In Color
by MusicForWords
Summary: What would happen if it all were switched? What if Castle was the New York Cop? And Beckett the carefree writer? Would they end up loving each other all the same? Would Castle ever let himself love?
1. Chapter 1

Kate had done her research, like any good mystery writer should. He was a hard, tough, New York City cop. People would say he was the smartest person they had ever met, but he never let emotion slip through his cracks. He came off detached from the world; he would solve murders without a single feeling. And that was why Kate Beckett was going to shadow him. She wanted to crack him down, she wanted to see inside him, and she wanted him to be the inspiration for her next book.

Beckett had seen his picture a few times. He had short hair that fell onto his forehead, blue eyes that screamed with mystery, and a breath taking smile. But seeing a picture of the New York Detective Richard Castle had nothing on seeing him in person.

Rick Castle's eyes seemed like God had dropped down two little pieces of the blue sky and Rick had just so happen to pick them up. They were cold, and filled with edge, but most important; they seem to hold no emotion.

"Hello. My name is Kate Beckett. I will be shadowing you around for 6 months or until I finish my book." Beckett indicated as she stuck out her hand.

"Detective Richard Castle," He instructed, he didn't shake her hand he just gave her a quick nod.

God! She was beautiful, Castle thought. She had hair that just about hit her shoulders; and her eyes could never be considered brown, but nor could they be green. They seem to fit her and her indecisive life. But Castle knew, no matter how much he would ever want her, she was so much better than him.

Beckett dropped her hand down, and shifted her eyes away.

"I'll give you a tour." Castle stated, as he walked into the bullpen. He already was trying to push the idea of loving her out of his head.

"This is my desk, and over there are Esposito and Ryan, they are my partners." Castle pointed to two men who were discussing something that was on the piece of paper one of them was holding. After hearing there names they both looked up. A Spanish looking man nudged the other one, and they started over towards Beckett.

"Well how may I help you? My name is Javi Esposito." The man winked at Kate, and she laughed.

"Cool it Esposito, she's the writer who is going to be shadowing me… us." Castle said through gritted teeth.

Castle had no idea why the sudden urge to claim her as his came over him.

"Ah… I see. This right here is Kevin Ryan." Esposito said as he tipped his head towards the other man.

Ryan just smiled at waved his hand.

"Follow me." Castle said as he walked into what Kate guessed was the interrogation room.

"So cool," Beckett said looking around.

"Just wait until you have a killer sitting in that chair."

Beckett laughed, but Castle just stared at her.

"Well I have to get back to work, I'm sure I can find you a desk or maybe a chair." Castle replied as he walked out of the room.

Beckett looked around some more and than walked out of the room. She spotted Castle sitting at his desk, a chair pulled up next to it; she guessed that that was going to be her spot.

Before Kate could even sit down in the chair, the shrill of Castle's phone rang through the bullpen.

"Castle." He snapped. "Alright… okay thanks." He glanced over to where Beckett was standing. "I've got a murder, stay here and please don't touch anything." He stated grabbing his coat from behind his chair.

"What? You're not going to let me come. Come on this is what I came here to do, shadow you as you solve murders."

Beckett looked at Castle; she was trying to look innocent hoping that he would crack. But even Kate couldn't know how gorgeous she looked to Castle. She was biting her lip, which made him lose focus for the first time in many years.

Castle pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a low sigh.

"Fine. But please don't do anything stupid." Castle said, and Beckett went to go get her coat.

Castle hoped that maybe seeing a dead woman would scare the writer away, but instead it just intrigued her more. She had taken notes on all of the things that Lanie the M.E. had said, she even wrote the time of death.

It was hard being in the car with her too. She smelled like cherries, and she was biting her lip again.

"So now what?" Beckett asked.

"Now?" Castle responded, "Now we bring the family in to tell us about our Vic."

"Ah." Beckett said as she jotted something down in her notebook. "So after that, do we go out to dinner and debrief each other?" Beckett smiled.

Castle wanted to say yes, he wanted to be apart of her world. But that feeling of knowing she was so much better than he was ran through him again.

"No." He stated cold and bitterly.

They pulled into the precinct and headed towards the elevators. There wasn't much room when they had gotten to it. And if Castle had thought being in the car with Beckett was hard, standing shoulder to shoulder to her was hell. He felt electricity flow through his veins and into his heart the whole elevator ride. He had to clench his fists from grabbing her and kissing her.

Once the slightest movement from the elevator doors happened, Castle busted out of there and tried to find something do that didn't involve her.

Beckett sat down in Castle's chair at his desk and started poking around through his papers. She saw information about killers, and the information about victims.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Castle snapped, causing Kate to jump from the chair.

"I was just looking at the papers. I thought I could get some information." Kate stared wide eyed at him.

"So you _assumed_ you could go through my stuff?" Castle asked with a bitterness that sent chills down Kate's spine.

Even though she was being yelled at by the city's toughest cop, she couldn't stop to think of how handsome he was. Beckett realized though he was waiting for an answer.

"Well… I… you know with the shadowing, I thought I could just… you know, look around." Beckett laughed awkwardly trying to lessen the tension.

"Oh and that too! Why are you even shadowing me? Why out of any person in this whole world would you choose me? You don't even know me." Castle stated his hands clenched at his sides.

"Well don't you think that I am trying?" Beckett commented, "I've known you for what? 3 hours? And you haven't said one thing about your self."

"Don't you think I do that for a reason?" Castle laughed bitterly, "I am _trying _to keep you out."

Beckett looked at him with soft eyes. "You can try to keep me out, but I still see through you."

"And what's that suppose to mean." Even though Castle was talking low, he still had disdain in his voice.

Beckett matched his voice level, "Well I know you didn't always want to be a cop. And you weren't always so… angry at the world." Beckett began, as Castle sat down. "You lost someone important, someone you love, maybe a parent, or a girlfriend? Who ever it was is irrelevant, but because they died you choose to be a cop."

Castle swallowed, hard. His eyes were no longer intense, but filled with memories.

"You blame yourself for every killer, every murder, and every gun shot fired at a person. Though, you still believe that, maybe, if you solve enough crimes that you will get to have this lost person back." Beckett went on as Castle closed his eyes.

"You don't let anyone in because you're scared of losing them. Even though I've known you for only 3 hours, I can say that you are brilliantly smart. You have a mind that some people would kill to have. But once you finish a murder, you push it away, somewhere locked up were it can't hurt you. But one day that chest box full of dead is going to open up and swallow you whole. But I think you already know that."

Beckett stopped; she saw the pain flowing into Castle. The Detective pinched the bridge of nose like he had earlier. He breathed a few times, and then looked up.

"I had just finished college, no less than 2 months before. It was my birthday; I can still feel the warm July air on my skin. My older brother Randy said he wanted to take me out for a drink. He said it was for now having a free life. The bar was only a few blocks from our house. I told him I would pay, but he insisted that he should. Randy always had to be macho like that." Castle closed his eyes again and steadied his breathing.

"He ran home because he had forgotten his wallet. It would have only taken him 10 minutes or so. But after a half hour had gone by, I was getting worried. He wasn't answering his phone, so I decided to go and find him. Even though it was dark, I can remember that I knew it was Randy right away. He was lying face down on the ground; blood was all over his blue shirt. He had been stabbed, 3 times."

Beckett didn't know what she was doing until her hand was placed on Castle's. He looked up suddenly, like fire had run through his body when she touched him.

"It wasn't your fault." Beckett whispered.

"Yes it was, and it will always be, I don't deserve half of the things I have. I let my brother get killed."

Castle had opened up to a perfect stranger. He never told anyone what happened to him. What had this girl done to him?


	2. Chapter 2 Pens

It had been a week since Castle opened up to Beckett. And everyday since Castle had shut her out even more than the first day. Kate was studying him beyond the basics, beyond what any stranger could find themselves. She was studying the inside of Detective Richard Castle, what made him tick. And everyday she found herself more and more interested in him.

Castle knew that Beckett was staring at him while he did his paperwork. The first minute or so he tried to ignore it, but than the stare began to feel like it was drilling holes through him.

"What do you want?" Castle snapped.

"Nothing…"

Castle returned to his work, and again he felt her staring at him. This time he didn't even bother to look up. "You're staring again!"

"I'm researching." Beckett answered continuing to openly stare at him.

"Doesn't research involve things like a paper and pencil? You don't seem to have any of those things." The bitterness in his voice could be felt miles away, but Beckett just pushed it aside.

"No, no, not that type of research." Beckett laughed, "I'm doing my own personal research."

"Go personally research Ryan or Esposito. I'm sure they won't mind."

Castle was trying to dismiss her, trying to make her leave, but Beckett didn't make a move. It always infuriated Castle how she never listened. He'd say: Don't touch that… and it was like she was than forced to touch it. She was a child that he constantly had to watch over.

"You're still here…" Castle said finally glancing up from his work.

Beckett looked around the precinct, "I didn't realize you asked me to leave."

Of course she didn't notice, Castle thought. Even if he flat out asked her to leave she still wouldn't notice. Not saying that Kate Beckett wasn't smart, because she certainly was. Over the past week, Castle had done some personal research of his own, but from afar of course. She was brilliant, she thought in ways that stunned Castle himself. The most mind blowing thing she had done was the when she profiled him so fast that first day.

Castle had to refocus; he was letting himself think too much about her. Every so often he would find himself slipping and letting his mind wander off to think about her. And when those moments happened he would push it all away and become cold again, refusing to let her see any more inside of him.

"So what are we doing today detective?" Beckett asked happily.

"Paperwork." Castle said flatly.

Beckett whined and groaned, "We did paperwork yesterday though!"

"I'm sorry that this isn't the crime fighting action packed job you signed up for." Castle went back to his paperwork, hoping to signal that it was the end of their conversation. But knowing Beckett, she'd keep going.

Beckett sat quiet in thought for a few moments, which almost stunned Castle. But before the moment could become too perfect, Beckett shot her hand out and stole Castle's pen.

Castle glared at her and she smiled at her accomplishment. "Give me back my pen," he demanded.

"Nope." Beckett pushed her chair back and calmly walked away.

"Breathe." Castle tried to tell himself. He looked around his desk hoping he could find another pen. And of course, the one day he does not have an extra pen! He groaned just thinking about what he was going to have to endure to get his pen back.

Richard walked over to his partner's desks. "Have you guys seen Beckett?"

Esposito and Ryan looked at each other with a wondering glance. "I think she made off towards the interrogation room," Esposito replied smoothly.

"Yeah and she was twirling a pen around in her hand all happy and smiling," Ryan added.

Castle groaned internally and nodded at them as he headed off towards the interrogation room.

Looking through the mirror, he could see Beckett smiling and sitting in the chair facing the mirror. Castle took another breath and walked into the room.

"So this is what a murderer feels like, having to sit in this chair. I find it quite relaxing." Beckett joked trying to lighten up the mood.

"Give me my pen back." Castle ignored her joke completely.

"Ah, so you are going to play bad cop. That figures because you aren't very nice to begin with." Beckett rambled on and Castle was starting to lose his patience.

"Give me my pen back." Castle repeated himself.

"Does that mean Esposito is good cop? No, I think Ryan is good cop. Ryan is a big softy." Beckett continued without even acknowledging Castle's request.

He knew that he was playing her game, and he knew that was exactly what she wanted. Castle knew that there was a whole precinct of people and surely one of them would have a pen he could borrow, but he wanted his pen, the pen Beckett was twirling in her fingers.

He gave her one last glare, ready to give up and ask a cop for their pen. Beckett stopped twirling the pen and looked at him.

"Oh this pen…" Beckett teased him. "I actually like this pen quite a lot; I might keep it in fact," than she went back to dancing the pen around her fingers.

Castle felt her pushing all of his buttons. He would never understand how she could possibly find the little things that aggravated him; and than he snapped.

"Why do you have to be such a child? Why can't you grow up and be a normal adult like the rest of the world?" He snapped.

Kate stared at him wide eyed. She was hoping he would just give up and find someone else's pen, she never thought he would last this long.

Than the realization of what he actually just said to Beckett hit him. He didn't know what to say, he wasn't good at saying sorry. So he just stared at her as she stared back at him.

"You aren't… I meant…" Castle stumbled on his words as Beckett tried to not let him see the hurt she felt. And when the guilt became too much for Castle, he left.

Beckett watched as Castle disappeared through the door. She knew she was being childish. She was just trying to let Castle loosen up a bit. He was always so uptight, but Beckett should have respected that. Richard Castle has a very hard job and he is respected by many in New York, of course he has no time to be childish, of course he always has to be serious. Beckett should have realized that.

She stood slowly and checked herself in the mirror, to make sure she looked as strong as possible, just in case Castle had planned for a round two. Taking a breath she opened the door back out into the precinct…

Castle hoped that Beckett would come back to his desk so he could formally apologize. Nobody deserved what he did to her. But she had left. He didn't even catch a glimpse of her. When he asked around the precinct, whoever had seen her told him that she said she was going home. Castle couldn't get any paper work done for the rest of the day because he couldn't get his mind off what he had said. Rick had made plans that first thing tomorrow he would apologize to her, and than hopefully she wouldn't speak of it again.

He felt a little better after he arrived home to his daughter, Alexis, cooking pasta. It always made Castle wonder how she learned to cook so good when he himself was a terrible cook. Normally he would order take out on the way home or eating Alexis's amazing cooking.

"Hi dad," she said with a smile "how was work? Did you catch any bad guys?"

Alexis Castle looked nothing like her father. Her hair was a beautiful shade of strawberry blonde, but leaning more towards red, which she got from her grandmother and she had bright blue eyes, which she inherited from her father. Besides appearance, Richard and his daughter were quite alike. They both were very smart; Alexis more book smart than Castle though. It would shock many, but Richard Castle use to have fun and he wasn't always this uptight and serious. But after years working his job and his brother's murder, he closed himself off from the world.

"Nope, it was only desk work that was done today. Sorry to disappoint you." Castle said while he grabbed plates from the cabinet to set out for dinner.

"Sounds like a very exciting day."

Castle was than reminded of the pen indecent in the Integration room and he was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt again.

"Where is the old lady?" Castle asked.

"I heard that!" Martha Rodgers announced as she gracefully made her grand entrance down the steps. "And I'll have you know some old friends from a musical I did back when I was young told me I didn't look a day over forty!"

"Are those the same friends that told you to sleep with the casting director to get a part?" Castle joked with his mother.

"Which I never ended up doing! Do not worry Alexis, dear; I was much smarter than they thought! And I still ended up with the part!"

"She claims that she never-" Castle paused when he heard the sudden knocks at the door. "Alexis… Did you invite anyone over for dinner?" He asked.

"I don't think so."

Castle walked to the door and looked through the peephole, standing there with a basket at hand was Beckett staring down at her feet while she shifted nervously back and forth.

Beckett glanced up as soon as she heard the door unlock, and suddenly all of the butterflies she was trying to ignore were fluttering around in her stomach.

"Uh Detective Castle, I'm sorry I know it's dinner time and you are probably eating right now. I got your address from Ryan and Esposito, so I am not a stalker I promise. I was just here to-" Beckett paused and than shoved the basket towards Castle after realizing she wasn't good at talking.

"Who's at the door?" A voice from inside called, than a girl around the age of 16 popped her head out from behind Castle.

"Uh, hi… I'm Kate Beckett. I'm the writer that's been shadowing Castle for the past week." Beckett stuck her hand out towards the red haired girl.

"Hi. I'm Alexis." She said as she shook hands with the writer. "My dad did mention that you had been shadowing him."

"Dad?" Beckett asked puzzled, "I wasn't aware that you had a-"

"So what are you doing here?" Castle cut in before Beckett could finish.

"Oh, um… Well I felt bad for what happened today. So I brought you these," she motioned towards the basket which was full of the same exact pen that she had stolen from him early in the day. "I know that I act like a child, and I'm sorry that I made you angry. It won't happen again, I promise."

Castle didn't know what to say, so he just stood there with Beckett and his daughter in the doorway of his apartment with a basketful of pens.

Alexis sensed the awkwardness between the two so she decided to help. "Why don't you stay for dinner Miss. Beckett?"

"You can call me Kate," Beckett smiled at the youngest Castle. "And I really have to get going, thank you for the offer though. I'm sorry once again." She said with one last glance at Castle.

Another moment of silence, than Kate nodded and headed off down the hallway. Castle closed the door and Alexis was smiling at him.

"I like her, she's nice."

Castle just shook his head and sat down at the table for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3 Bed Head and Blue Eyes

Rick quickly glanced at her; she was biting her lip while taking notes from the crime scene. Her hair was falling into her face and every now again she would push it behind her ears.

"Detective… did you hear me?" Lanie asked as she looked between Rick and Kate. Lanie Parish was a beautiful African American, with a sassy attitude; but she was the best in the business and had been paired with Castle for a very long time.

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat what you said Dr. Parish?" Castle saw Kate glance up from her notes from the corner of his eye.

"Grant Gallagher died sometime around 2 a.m., the cause of death being a type of poison. But from what I can tell the poison was in the victim's system for a lot longer. My guess is that he was poisoned within the time frame of 10:30 to midnight."

"Thank you Lanie." Detective Castle spun on his heels and headed towards Esposito and Ryan who were talking to a cop on the scene. "Hey, I need you guys to talk to the family. See if the vic had a girlfriend. Find out where he was at 10:30 last night. Find out if there was anyone after him."

"Can do boss," Ryan nodded. "It's always a pleasure to see you Miss Becket."

"And you the same Ryan. How is the lucky lady?" Beckett asked with a laugh.

"Amazing as always." Ryan's eyes lit up as he talked about, Jenny, his girlfriend.

Esposito gave him a disgusted look, "bro, you are so whipped. Beyond whipped."

"Oh and like no one else notices you waiting on Lanie hand and foot." Castle joked and Esposito's cheeks went crimson. The M.E. and Esposito tried to hide it, but they both had playground crushes on each other and everyone noticed. "Now go find out about our victim."

He was relaxed around his partners, Kate noticed. It wasn't the first time she saw it though. He would joke with them at times when things were light but they still regarded Castle as their boss. Castle never mentioned anything about his partners past to her, but Kate questioned the two to find a little more information about the trio. They had been working together on the force now for years. Their three brilliant minds put together were what made them the best in New York City. It was truly an experience watching them work together.

"You've got yourself a good team, Detective." Kate pointed out as they headed towards the Crown Vic.

"They are a little childish sometimes, but yeah… we work well." Castle smiled to himself, Beckett felt her heart flutter. Detective Richard Castle was gorgeous even more so when he smiled. She knew damn well that he wasn't even considering a relationship with her though. But even with that fact in mind Richard Castle would give her butterflies. They drove away from the crime scene and Beckett still had butterflies.

Beckett woke up in cold sweat, the blanket was kicked off to the ground and her heart was racing. Being a murder writer had its setbacks, and one of them was nightmares. But some of her worst nightmares transformed into her best books. But this one was different, it seemed much more real. Kate only blamed it on the shadowing. She stood up and walked to her expansive kitchen for something to drink to calm her racing heart. The clock on the microwave read 2 a.m., she sighed, even at this hour though New York City hadn't settled down. Beckett finished her drink and placed it into the sink and headed back to her bedroom. She crawled into her covers and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Kate woke up again with a jump; it was the same nightmare as before. Her heart was beating fast and she was out of breath. Before she realized what she was doing she heard the dial tone of her phone stop as a groggy Richard Castle answered on the other end.

"Castle." Was his answer to every call, but his voice was full of sleep this time.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to call you. It's like what? 3:30 a.m.? I'm sorry." Her brain finally caught up to her.

There was a pause on the other end, and then she heard Castle sit up in his bed. "Beckett?" He asked.

"I'm sorry detective, I wasn't thinking. I just had a nightmare and you were the first person I called. I shouldn't have waked you."

"You had a nightmare and called me?" Castle asked confused. Sure there were plenty of others she could have called, but he was the first thing she thought of.

"Yes. I know, it was foolish of me and I am truly sorry." She apologized once more.

There was another pause on the other end, longer than the first. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Castle asked finally. Beckett was surprised; she didn't think Castle would be willing to help her. But she also didn't think she was going to be a babbling fool.

"Do you ever get nightmares, I mean with your job and everything… I'm sure they should come frequently."

"They are scattered now, but after my brother's murder and when I first started on the force they would happen almost every night. The easiest thing to do is know that nothing can hurt you from those nightmares."

Kate's heart fluttered once more, she realized she was talking to Castle while he was in bed. Did he sleep in boxers? In sleeping pants? Shirtless? She pictured him having bed hair and smelling of sheets. Her body betrayed her once more and she gasped aloud at the image of him.

"Are you okay, Kate?" He asked concerned, and Kate realized how sexy his voice sounded when he was tired.

"Yes, I am good now. Thank you very much Rick. I appreciate it."

Rick sighed from his bed; his own heart was beating fast. He wondered if she could hear it. "Anytime Beckett. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow Detective…" Kate replied hanging up the phone. She fell asleep that time dreaming peacefully of bed head and blue eyes.

Castle was rarely impulsive, but this morning he found himself walking into the precinct with two cups of coffee and a bear claw. It was unprofessional of him to do something like this; he didn't even know if she drank coffee. And as soon as she walked in, Castle realized that he didn't even think of a way to give her the coffee. He tried to look occupied with his paperwork as she sat down across from him. Stopping for only a second, he pushed the coffee across the table towards her and then went back to his papers.

"For me?" She asked but didn't wait for the reply as she took a sip of the coffee. "Thanks!"

"You had a bad night so I just thought you could use it…" Castle mumbled; he felt embarrassed and stupid.

"Thank you for that. Last night. I know it wasn't right for me to call you, I don't know why I did really. But thanks."

Castle looked up from his paperwork for the first time and nodded at her. The shrill of his phone filled the silence. "Castle." He snapped again, and Kate remembered back to last night when his voice will full of sleep. Butterflies fluttered through her again. The conversation didn't last very long because Castle had hung up and stood from his desk. "We have to head over to Gallagher's house." The old Castle was back, Beckett thought.

"I'm sorry for your loss Mrs. Gallagher, but can you think of anyone who would try to kill your husband?" Castle asked, his voice was soft and sympathetic.

Mrs. Gallagher dabbed her eyes with a tissue, "no, everyone loved Grant. I just don't understand why someone would do this to him." This caused another round of tears.

"I am very sorry again. But to solve your husband's murder I really need your help. Was Grant acting strange at all lately?"

Mrs. Gallagher thought for a moment. "No, I do not believe so… He was staying at work a little longer, but he said it was because he was working for a promotion."

Castle nodded, "and you are sure no one would try to kill him? Anyone at work he ever had problems with?"

"Well there was this one man…" Mrs. Gallagher responded. She gave Castle the information on the man from Gallagher's work. Steven Lewis was his name, and a few months back, he and Grant had to work together on a project. Lewis started causing issues which got him kicked off the project. Later Lewis got fired and was furious with Gallagher and blamed him for getting laid off.

The team filed out after enough information was given by Mrs. Gallagher about her husband.

"Well Beckett, you saw your first crying wife after a murder. I didn't think you could take that many notes on a person crying." Esposito joked with her as they headed back to the cars.

"I didn't take just notes on her if you would like to know! I took them on how Castle asks each question and how acts around the victim's wife!" She responded in defense.

"So, notes on Castle huh?" Kate could hear what Esposito was really implying in his statement.

Becket looked down at her feet to hide the blush that seeped into her cheeks. She didn't see the car though that was speeding down the street as she stepped onto pavement, Rick did. Years of police training gave him a quick reaction speed that was needed in this exact moment. He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the car that would have hit her a second ago. It was like a movie, she was against his body, her hand lying on his chest, staring deep into the ocean of his eyes.

Beckett gasped; she could feel every muscle in his body. An electric current passed through her. Kate stared into Rick's eyes and it seemed like he was at war with himself. Would he kiss her? She would kiss him back, Beckett knew that much. She wanted him to kiss her. Castle in that moment never thought he saw anything prettier than Kate Beckett. And here he was in her arms.

Ryan or Esposito coughed behind them, neither Castle nor Beckett was sure. Beckett knew the moment had to end though and so she let go of his hand and took a step back.

"Thank you; I would have been a pancake if you hadn't grabbed me." Beckett said trying to lighten the mood with a joke and a smile. Castle nodded and stared down at his feet as he walked across the street. He repeated all the states in his head, twice, just to try and forget the feel of her body against his and the way she smelled of cherries. Cherries and Kate. A deathly combination for Rick it seemed.


	4. Chapter 4 Dance Floor Danger

Castle kicked the door open with the heel of his foot and stepped into the darkness of the factory. They located their subject of the Grant Gallagher case all the way to this warehouse. Slowly, the team stepped inside minus the writer because she was told to stay in the car and not to move by Castle.

The team moved silently about the warehouse, fanning out to cover more area. From the car Kate saw a movement a window, someone she knew wasn't anyone on the team. Beckett drummed her fingers nervously on the dashboard. Should she go in? That would go against Castle's orders though. _Stay in the car,_ Kate thought. There was a movement again in the window, and before she knew it the door was flying open and she was out of the car in a heartbeat.

The warehouse was dark, but Beckett saw the flash of the suspect again. She followed after him, moving stealthily.

Elsewhere, Castle saw a movement; somewhere towards the back and he followed, gun at the ready. 

A clash sounded, Beckett looked down and saw she had kicked over a bucket. A classic Kate Beckett move. The suspect jumped around and found Castle right behind him. The suspect whipped out his gun and had it pointing straight towards Castle. Kate's heart froze. He was going to be shot! Beckett, without thinking, ran and tackled Castle pulling him out of the shooting range. Arms and legs got tangled together as they fell clumsily to the floor.

"What the hell?" Castle yelled. The suspect made a move to leave which caught Castle's eye. "Esposito! Ryan! In the back!"

His partners came running out of the dark and caught the suspect before he could reach the door.

Beckett was lying over Castle, both of their chests rising and falling quickly. For the second time in one week, he could feel every contour of her body as she looked down at him with apologetic eyes. She was beautiful. Her hair was spilling out in front of her; she was biting her lip out of nervousness.

Reality broke in. "What were you thinking?" Castle yelled. Beckett sat up, her hands resting on his knees.

"The gun! He was going to shoot you!" She retaliated staring down at his big blue eyes. His face was twisted with anger, but he was still so handsome. How could he do that? Be so intense, look so angry all the time, and still be the most beautiful thing. She mollified as she looked at his lips. "I'm so sorry. I know. It was irresponsible for me to do. I just couldn't watch you get shot."

Beckett's head dropped and Castle could no longer see her face. He had a sudden urge to look into her eyes. He needed to see her. Castle sat up and leaned forward, and Beckett picked her face up and suddenly they were inches away from each other again. If Castle leaned forward just a little more and she did the same their lips could touch.

"I…" Beckett started, but lost all her thoughts as she looked at his lips for about the millionth time. Her heart was racing, and she was pretty sure he could hear it. Castle was overtaken, he was engrossed by her. He had never had these feelings towards any girl before. He had dated sure, but it wasn't ever serious because he wouldn't let it get that far.

Cherries. That's all he could think of. Cherries and Kate. Yet again for the second time this week, she was surrounding him. He had to kiss her. He completely forgot why he was angry in the first place. Her lips parted, and her breathing was picking up pace. Castle tilted his head a little farther; there wasn't even enough space between them to think.

Someone coughed behind them. "Guys… We gotta go," Esposito interrupted. Esposito didn't want to say anything, neither did his partner but they knew Castle would be stuck to paperwork for months if Gates found out about the PDA during the job.

Realization flashed across both of their faces about what almost just happened. Beckett jumped up and backed away from him. "That… We… I…" But no words were coming out. She looked at Castle one last time than walked out of the warehouse.

Castle ran his fingers through his hair, and stood up slowly. Ryan and Esposito looked at him cautiously. "Not a word about this, to anyone." He stated.

"We got your back bro." Esposito nodded at him and Ryan shook his head too.

It had been a little over a month since the day in the factory, nobody mentioned it. Beckett took a few days off afterwards, and although Castle tried not to think about it, he was worried that she would never come back. But she did, and she laughed and acted like nothing ever happened. Yet again, that's what Castle wanted… But he couldn't understand why he felt so disappointed.

A new body dropped last night, and Castle already knew it was going to be a long day. They'd been chasing people around for most of the morning and it had all been dead ends. Nothing made Castle more irritated than dead ends.

Castle's phone rang as they were standing at the board trying to come up with something.

"Castle" he snapped. A quick explanation was given and then a quick goodbye.

"We have to go to see Lanie." And then he was already off, heading to the car, Beckett not far behind.

The drive was short and quiet. Castle focused on the road and Beckett only looked out the window.

"Detective Castle. Beckett. What a pleasure seeing you today." Lanie greeted unenthusiastically.

"Yes, always a pleasure." Castle said, his tone always holding that seriousness.

Lanie wasted no time on her findings of the body. Alcohol and drugs were found in her body, and stab wounds on her stomach.

"Beckett… will you stay for a little. I have something important to tell you." Lanie said as she ended her description.

"If this is something about the case, than I feel as though I should be present seeing that I am the cop." Castle stated using his cop voice.

Lanie gave him a disapproving scowl, and Castle immediately knew he had gone too far. He faced murderers of all kinds constantly, but he knew Lanie was nothing to mess with.

"Detective Castle, I will ask you to wait in the car. I will send Kate up in a few minutes."

Rick nodded and headed out the door before he was chastised even more.

"So…" Lanie trailed off, and Kate looked at her confused.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about! Your boy! What's been going on with you two?"

"Who…?" Kate asked confused.

"You and Castle."

"What? No! Castle and I have nothing going on between us!"

"Are you really that blind to it? Everyone sees what going on between you two, girl."

"There is nothing! There won't be in a million years because all he ever thinks about is his job!"

"Kate. I see it every time you guys are here. It's like electricity that burns between you too. It may seem like all Castle ever cares about is his job, but really since you came to shadow him, he has been different. He smiles all the time when you are near him. And you guys lean towards each other. Do you know that? Even today, you guys did it. It's like you are drawn to each other. Like you gravitate towards one another."

"Lanie. You are so wrong!"

"No girl, no I am not. You guys are good for each other. Perfect actually. He is so uptight, you would balance him. At a few company events, he would bring a girl. But it never seemed serious. Castle doesn't have serious relationships. You won't admit it to yourself, but you like him. The way you guys banter, it's like ying and yang."

"You're forgetting that his job is all that matters to him. I know that. And my job is important to me. So even if there were to ever be anything, and I'm not saying there is, if it ended badly I wouldn't be able to shadow him for my books. He won't ever overstep his job though. Isn't it obvious, he would never give me a chance." Kate explained and Lanie just shook her head.

"You're wrong. Just take the chance. You have to make the first move, because Castle won't."

"Whatever you said Lanie." But what the M.E. had said followed her all the way into the car.

Castle looked at her questioningly. "So, what was that about?"

"Oh… Esposito troubles. Girl talk." Kate felt her heart beating, she felt like Castle knew everything they talked about.

"Ah, gotcha." But Castle knew something was off, the way her fingers drummed against the dashboard and how she was biting her lip again. Something she only ever did when she was nervous.

The conversation was dropped and no words were said during the duration of the car ride back to the precinct.

"A bar?" Castle asked, "That's where our killer works?

"Yeah, a bar off of Washington and Broad. He'll be there tonight. Bouncers can spot cops from a mile away, and you'll never get in if you look like you have a motive. You have to go in undercover." Ryan said, and everyone's eyes shifted from Beckett to Castle and back to her again.

"What?" She asked at all the attention. "I don't understand."

Castle sighed and Esposito took the liberty of explaining. "You and Castle have to go in tonight. As a pair. A couple."

Castle shook his head. "No. I refuse. She isn't a cop and she is like a child! She'll try and jump on the murderer at the first sight of him just like in that warehouse. It's not going to work; she is going to screw the plan up!"

"It's the only way." Gates chimed in, although normally against anything dealing with Beckett, she agreed with the rest of the team.

"No. I will absolutely not let this happen." Castle shook his head even harder. But he could tell he had no chance.

"I can do it." Beckett said softly. "I can do this."

Everyone looked over at her. She was looking at her feet, biting her lip. _Take the first step_, she repeated to herself.

"Good, it's settled." Gates said with a clap of her hands as she walked off. Everything was silent as the team waited for any more of a reaction from the two.

Castle sighed. "Meet me here. 8 o'clock. Dress club appropriately."

It took her forever to find something to wear. She had plenty of clothes, but she just couldn't make up her mind. She wanted to dress club appropriately like Castle had said, but she felt everything was too much.

Kate settled on a navy blue dress, it came stopped at mid-thigh and the back was completely open. In the back of her mind though, she secretly wanted to impress Castle.

Castle was standing outside when the cab pulled up. The door opened and a pair of long legs slid out. Rick couldn't breathe. She stood up and Castle went instantly hard. Her dress was blue, and long stiletto heels on making her legs look even longer and sexier. The dress had a v-neck cut and it ended right before her breasts making Castle want her even more. Her hair fell in loose curls that framed her face and Castle couldn't have thought of anything more beautiful. He wanted to take her to his house and never let her leave. He would never let her leave his bedroom.

Kate saw Castle looking at her from head to toe and she felt naked. The way he looked at her, like an animal.

"Kate." He smiled, as he stuck his arm and she hooked hers into it. "You look… exquisite."

"Yeah, you're not so bad either." Who was she kidding? He had on this deep red shirt with the first two buttons undone. Kate could see his muscles through his shirt and it made her knees weak. He had a black jacket over his dress shirt and black slacks on. His hair was messed up like it was every day from the constant running of his hands through it and a few pieces of hair fell limp over his forehead. His blue eyes blazing and staring right at her.

They arrived at the club and before they even went inside the music was blasting. A bouncer took one look at Beckett and let her in immediately, Castle wanted to smash the guys face in for looking at Kate like she was meat. But yet again, his own thoughts were probably worse.

The pair entered the club and it was packed wall to wall of people. Barely enough room to think. Castle scanned the room for the suspect and at first glance couldn't spot him.

Rick yelled something over the music. "What?" Kate yelled back. Rick leaned in and tried again "I can't find our guy; I'm going to grab us some drinks. I'll be back. Don't do anything stupid. And please try to blend in." His breath was hot against her ear, and his the stubble of his chin coarse against her cheek. Her knees went weak and her heart pounded. It seemed as though Castle lingered by her ear longer than he needed too, but Kate wasn't complaining. She nodded in response, for fear her voice wouldn't work.

Castle walked off, but had to stop himself multiple times from turning around; throwing her over his shoulder and taking her out of the club to somewhere they could be alone. He grabbed the drinks, cursing only a few times at the bartender for not going fast enough. He practically ran back to where he left Kate last, 1) out of fear she had done something stupid and 2) because he had to be near her again, to feel that electricity again.

He spotted her, and he cursed himself for leaving her alone. She was dancing, but that was hard to classify as dancing, it was more that she was trying to kill Castle from sudden blood rushes south of the border. Her hips were swinging back and forth and she was running her hands through her hair. All the guys around her were drooling, staring at her ass just like Castle was.

He set the drinks down, not caring that he had just paid for them. Rick pushed through the crowd of people to where she was and cut in with the guy who was dancing with her. "Mine." He snapped. And the dude went to say something, but Castle gave him the most terrifying look.

"What happened to the drinks?" Kate asked, unaware of the effect she was having on him.

"Lost them." There was no room for talking; Castle had to have her up against him. Like the moment in the streets, or in the factory. He grabbed her tiny waste and brought her too him. They were dancing together; actually it was more like the closest thing to heaven for both of them.

Her hips moved side to side and all Castle could smell was her. She was surrounding him but yet she didn't seem close enough so he pulled her tighter against him. Kate felt his hardness against her back. It was hard to ignore. She wondered how she was still standing, she felt like she was going to collapse at any minute. His cologne was intoxicating. Kate wondered what he used, because it smelled like him. It smelled like Richard Castle.

_Make the first move_, she thought. Beckett could hear Lanie yelling at her to at least do something! She had too! He wouldn't be hard for no reason, would he? Did Kate really have that effect on him? The way he acted around that other guy really showed something too. She would never know though if she never tried. Kate had to at least make a move, and if it didn't work out she'd deal with it later. But as of right now she wanted so badly to kiss him, ever since she stepped out of the cab and saw him eying her furiously.

_1… 2… 3…_ Kate turned around and looked at him. His eyes a glow with desire staring piercingly at her. She glanced down at his lips and her mouth parted and her breathing was heavy. Beckett bit her lips from nerves, she counted to herself again then leaned forwards and gently brushed her lips to his.

Castle lost it. All the desire he was trying to hold inside came tumbling out. He attacked her lips, hungrily demanding entrance to her mouth. She was like heaven, like snow on Christmas morning. His hands went to her back and were moving to wherever he could reach, but not the places Beckett wanted him most. Her hands flew to his hair and were running her fingers through the strands. Her lips were like silk and Castle couldn't get enough.

She moaned against his mouth which set him off further. It became a battle of teeth, tongue and lips. He pulled her as close to his body as he could. Castle broke the kiss when the battle for air became too much and Beckett was panting. He trailed his own little kisses down her neck and started sucking just above her collarbone, Kate moaned again. Castle should win awards for what he could do with those lips.

She had to have them on hers again, grabbing his face she pulled him back to her lips and again the battle started. Castle was seeing stars, and it was only a kiss. Kate put her hands around his back and was scratching lightly, it was driving Castle crazy. It felt like he couldn't be as close as he wanted. Kate's whole body was against him, but for some reason it still was close enough. Rick dropped his hands to her ass and pulled her closer. Kate gasped and realized that they were in a club, and Castle was doing his job.

"Rick…" Kate said breathlessly. She was trying to stop, trying to help things get sorted out, but he took it as a cue to keep going. He dropped his head again making an assault on her neck for the second time. This time finding a spot below her ear that drove her crazy.

"Rick." This time she was moaning his name and so he continued, in his own heaven, and so was she. But she had to stop; she knew Castle would be in trouble if he didn't catch their guy. With all her strength she moved her hands back to Rick's chest and with as much authority as she could muster in that moment she called his name again. "Castle!"

His head lifted and he looked straight at her.

She was still panting, and she was wet, but she knew what she was doing was right, no matter how good being wrong felt. "God… that was… But the case… we-"

Recognition flashed across his face and Detective Castle was back. He stepped away from her like she was poison. He felt sick to his stomach. He just made out with Kate. And God it was good. Better than anything he had ever felt. Castle lost himself, that's how good it was. Kate Beckett made the famous New York City cop forget his own surroundings while on the job.

"Shit." He mumbled, and he was off looking for their guy. The taste of Kate still on his lips.


	5. Chapter 5 Break Room Warnings

I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I have yet to find a set personality for either of the characters yet. So I'm sorry if it seems like they are constantly acting differently. I'm just experimenting as I go.

Also, I loved last night's episode with the bank! I think I'm going to do something along the lines of that but with Kate. If you have any suggestions please feel free to tell me! I am overjoyed when I see them!

"YOU WHAT?" Lanie screeched through the phone so loud that Beckett had to pull it away from her ear.

"I know! It's terrible! And I was just taking your damn advice!" Beckett shook her head as she paced back in forth in her expensive New York apartment kitchen.

"My damn advice? Girl, had you not stopped, my damn advice would have gotten you laid!" You could hear Lanie's approval and yet again anger through the phone.

"Can we stay on topic here, please? I made out with Detective Richard Castle and that's a huge no-no! I'm not going to be able to shadow him anymore! He wouldn't even look at me as we left the club! He's probably already filling out my release papers now! I'm going to have to call my editor and tell her the book is going to take longer!" Beckett continued, "geeze! Guess my time at the precinct was good while it lasted!"

"Kate. Calm down for like a minute. Did Castle seem to enjoy the kiss?" Lanie's voice was now soothing.

"Well... I guess… he was… I mean…-" Beckett felt her cheeks go crimson.

"He was hard?"

"Lanie!"

"Girl! Just say it!"

Beckett sighed, "yes, he was hard. And he kisses like the world is going to end! It's like nothing you ever felt. It's like he's kissing you with everything he has, like he will never see me again and he has to give everything to me but the only way is by kiss." The writer of many steamy love scenes was coming out in her but never once did a love scene get her flustered like just thinking about Castle did.

"Mhmm…"

"And then his hands. Damn his hands! They were everywhere and then again nowhere all at the same time! Everywhere I wanted his hands to be, he would just brush by. God, Lanie! I'm so screwed!"

"So I'm assuming Castle enjoyed it thoroughly." Lanie pointed out.

"He could have just been doing it out of generosity..."

Lanie scoffed over the phone. "Kate Beckett, here is the way I see it. I think Castle enjoyed that kiss more than you are willing to admit. I think he wanted to kiss you, and my _damn_ advice caused that moment! And for that reason, I do not believe that you will be getting let go from your shadowing job. However, I do believe you will have a bowl full of tension and awkwardness when you get back to the precinct, because if I know one thing, Castle is not a man to act on his feelings, especially on the job. He is going to push you away, but that is only because he doesn't know what else to do."

"No offense, Lanie, but last time I took your advice… Castle walked out of the club refusing to look or talk to me."

"I'm going to smack you! My advice worked! You just did it at the wrong time!" Lanie started to defend herself, and Kate knew immediately to back down.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I have to go. We'll talk more some other time."

"Try for some nice Castle sex next time!" Lanie added at the end as Kate was hanging up.

She fell backwards onto her couch and stared at the ceiling, sighing heavily. _I can't do this,_ Kate thought.

Beckett put on her big girl panties, gave herself a good 20 minute pep talk before she left, then another in the rear view mirror of her car in front of the precinct before she opened the doors of the 12th.

"Good morning Beckett! Looking mighty fine today!" Esposito called from his desk, the usual playfulness she got out of him every morning.

"That's funny; Lanie told me how fine you were looking last night!" Beckett called back, matching his playfulness.

"Dress to impress I always say." Esposito smiled, knowing he could always get a joke out of the writer.

Beckett moved towards Castle's desk, she could see him writing something intensely. Her body was moving, but Kate Beckett felt like she was still sitting inside her car in front of the precinct.

She sat down without a noise, and Castle acted like he didn't notice her.

"Good morning." He said, short and succinct. It was like they reverted all the way back to that first day. She was never going to get more than a half a sentence out of him without pissing him off.

"Morning." If that was how Richard Castle was going to act, then so be it, Kate was going to act the same way.

Why did she care about him anyway? She didn't! It doesn't matter that they shared the hottest kiss that Kate has ever even dreamed about. Nope! She didn't care one bit! If Richard Castle was going to act like it never happened, than Kate will do the same exact thing!

Beckett's chair screeched backward and she stood up, pride filling her gut, she swiftly walked away towards the break room.

"God dammit," the detective whispered to himself, letting out a breath of air. He pinched the bridge of his nose, something he did when he was frustrated. When Castle saw her today, it took every fiber in his being to not jump her again. He gripped the pen he was holding so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. But he couldn't, ever again. Richard Castle was never going to have Kate Beckett. It was unprofessional and he wasn't even half as good of a person as she was.

Castle pulled deep within himself to find the jerk that he had to be to make this work.

Days. Castle's sour attitude had been going on for days now. Seven words were the most he said to Beckett, and they were: Do you want the air conditioning on?

Although it annoyed Beckett, it was absolutely killing Castle. He had a taste of the forbidden fruit and that's all he could think about. The situation was worse than before. Before, she used to stand next to him at crime scenes or while talking with Lanie and he would imagine what kissing her felt like. But now, he knew exactly how good kissing her was and she wouldn't even be close to him. Castle missed that.

_It's your fault though, _Castle thought. _You're being a jerk to her. No wonder she doesn't even want to talk to you. _

Rick's heart dropped about 20 stories. There was no way he cared for Beckett. He was just sexually attracted to her that was all. Right?

The detective and the writer stood an arm's length away from each other at the crime scene. Just as the team was wrapping up, Beckett's phone went off. She excused herself quietly, and yet again Castle acted like she wasn't even there.

Kate looked down at the Caller I.D. sighed knowing she was in for hell.

"Hey Josh." She smiled to herself, her back away from the team.

"Hey Becks! How you been lately?" Josh always was happy and even with all her frustration towards Castle, she still felt herself smiling a large toothy grin.

"Oh I've been swell, and yourself?"

"Not much. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to do lunch today. I know you've got that new shadowing job; it's all the newspapers are talking about. And I was around your area and couldn't help but think of my favorite writer."

Kate laughed, "Lunch with you? I think I can pencil that in. I'll be back to the precinct around 1:30. I'll see you there."

Goodbyes were said, and Beckett was heading back towards the team. Her and Josh had dated for a little while, it had gotten serious but for some reason Kate just couldn't let it continue. Josh was heartbroken, he truly loved her and sometimes he wasn't sure if she loved him back. But they agreed on friends and they had gone out to lunch a few times since and everything worked out fine.

As the team shuffled into the precinct and collapsed into their chairs, a long day already, Beckett looked around as if searching for someone. Castle watched her intently as a huge smile broke across her face. He followed her line of sight and saw a tall muscular man with the exact smile on his face also.

Beckett walked quickly to him and he embraced her with a hug that she seemed to melt in too. Castle couldn't see what she was saying, but she let out a loud laugh and stared up at this guy with big bright eyes. Rick's jealousy spiked and all he could think of was standing up and shooting the guy straight through the head. He wouldn't miss, no doubt.

They walked together, his arm slung over her shoulder. Castle wasn't having second thoughts about shooting him.

"Hey guys, this is Josh. Josh this is Javier Esposito, Kevin Ryan and Rick Castle." Saying his name was like swallowing shard of glass, and the way he was looking at her didn't help.

Esposito and Ryan nodded at Josh, but Castle didn't even move. "Well we're going out to lunch." Kate said feeling quite awkward in the situation.

"I'll have her back before the next body drops, promise." Josh pitched in, and the guys and Beckett laughed. Castle was seeing red. His pen clenched in his hands again. The two walked off, Beckett flirting and twirling her hair and Josh laughing.

In a perfect world, Castle would have stood up and punched the prick in the face. The guy would have tried to fight back, but Castle would have beaten him down. And when the prick ran out of the precinct, Beckett would look at Castle with those longing eyes and they'd share a kiss right in the middle of the precinct and everyone would burst out into applause.

Instead, Castle sat at his desk trying to shoot lasers out of his eyes at Josh. His pen snapped in half from his own grip and he felt the shards of pieces in his hand.

_Is she playing some kind of game?_ He thought angrily to himself. The way she stepped away from the crime scene to answer that call and was all smiles and giggles. Castle couldn't take his eyes off her as she stood there and Beckett never even noticed.

Castle had so much built up frustration he decided he was going to the precinct gym. He angrily stood up and stomped off.

Esposito and Ryan unsure of what the heck just happened looked at each other with confused faces and shrugs.

Castle made his way to the break room after one of the most intense workouts he'd ever pushed himself to do. He started off with a 3 mile run, than a circuit of weightlifting only to end it all with a punching bag session. The detective was dripping in sweat as he stood in the air conditioned break room chugging down water.

"Seeya soon!" He heard the girl on his mind call to someone outside the break room, no doubt Josh.

Beckett turned to the coffee machine and felt herself go immediately wet. Castle stood there in a black muscle shirt, a towel hanging loosely around his neck and absolutely covered in sweat. His shorts were hung low on his hips and his muscles normally hidden beneath work clothes were open to the world. And oh boy was he built. His hair was disheveled and fell haphazardly into his face, his eyes blazing. There was nothing sexier.

Beckett lost all thoughts. All sarcastic or childish remarks were gone. Her breathing came out in heavy pants and suddenly the room was too hot. She swore her knee's started to wobble too.

"Hope you had fun with your _boyfriend._" Castle spitted the words at her like they were venom.

"Excuse me?" Kate's brain still wasn't working right; it had been Castle-fried.

"You heard me." Beckett couldn't believe her ears, and Castle couldn't tell what came over him to say something like that.

"Josh and I aren't dating…" No longer flustered, Beckett found her words.

"You sure as hell act like you are," he retorted back.

"Even if we were, I don't see where there would a proble,." Although oh so sexy, once he spoke, Beckett remembered her anger at him in the first place.

"Well if you were, I don't want to see any affection around the office again."

It took everything Beckett had not to slap him. "Excuse me. I don't think you should be telling me this. You're the one who made out with _me_ on an undercover case! And with all that heat and passion between us I would sure as hell definitely say that is more than affection on the job!"

Beckett's rant was still going, but all heard was "heat and passion between us". So she felt it too?

He had the same effect on her like she had on him?

Within in a millisecond, Castle was pacing to her, grabbing her and kissing her with all the anger he felt. He pushed her against the corner away from all the windows, hungrily attacking her lips. His hands trapping hers above her head as he demanded entrance to her mouth.

Beckett couldn't do anything, her limbs turned to jello the minute his lips touched hers. He was angry, you could tell by the ferocity of the kiss and by the roughness of his hands. Beckett sure as hell wasn't complaining though.

He grabbed her legs and she wrapped her thighs around his waist. Castle pushed her even farther against the wall, just like the night at the club he had to be closer. His lips dropped and started making an assault on her neck; sucking and licking just below Kate's ear. Beckett could feel the heat her in lady parts and she moaned aloud.

"God your good," she admitted. Her head fell back against the wall as his attack on her neck became deadly. If this was what Rick could do with lips, Kate would be gone if she ever found out what he could do with his hands or his other equipment.

She pulled his face back to her lips, her own fire coming out. She was the aggressor now. Her fingers scraping his scalp as they battled in the break room for dominance.

They continued, but Castle took the moment to say "we can't, not here."

_I'll do this anywhere, _Beckett thought; her lips pouncing on his.

"We can go to my house. Right now." Her voice was coarse and sexy, and Castle knew exactly what she was implying. His mind turned to goo and he forgot his original point, almost taking her up on her offer. He had never felt a kiss like this. He's hardness below the belt, pressing into her, definitely never reacted to a woman like it was reacting to her. It was like; with one swish of her hips or a brush of her hand he was instantly hard

But he remembered what he had to do. "No. We can't do this." The authority in his voice even shocked himself.

"What?" Kate lifted her head away from his lips.

"We can't do this. This thing we have between us, it's not going to work. I will not lose my job, I'm sorry Beckett. We have to stay professional." Even though he was saying those words, all Rick wanted to was kiss her again.

"There is always outside of work…" Kate trailed off, hoping that he wouldn't put an end to whatever they had. Because it was better than anything she ever felt.

Rick put his forehead to the cold wall next to her head and tried to breathe. The desire for her wasn't going away.

"You deserve better. You deserve a guy like Josh. Not me. I'm not good for you." Castle hated the words he was saying, but they had to be said.

"Maybe I want a guy like you." Beckett wasn't exactly sure what Castle was getting at, but she knew that she wanted him.

"Kate…" Castle sighed, and lifted his head to look her in the eyes. "You're making this so hard." He let go of her thighs and she slid off of him. Rick forced the emotions he was feeling out of his head. He looked at her one last time and headed out the break room door. Leaving with the taste of Kate Beckett on his lips once again.


	6. Chapter 6 Kidnappers Delight

I know it's a lot shorter than some of my other chapters, but I had to end this one with a cliff hanger. I hope you enjoy! Next chapter coming soon.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Beckett's mouthed dropped out of pure astonishment. "What an ass!" She yelled after him, but nothing was going to make him turn around and walk back in. How could he do that too her! Get her so flustered and aroused that she was going to have to take a hot bubble bath when she got home, and then just leave!

She stormed out of the break room, ready to give Castle hell.

"Where is he?" She demanded at Esposito and Ryan. Shock appeared along both of their faces but they quickly realized what she was talking about.

"He just left, said something about an errand he had to go do." Ryan piped up, "why?"

"No reason. Just tell him he's an asshole when he gets back." And then Beckett snatched her coat from the chair next to his desk, grabbed a pen and post it note and scribbled out a note for Castle.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Beckett typed feverishly away at her computer, her brain was on auto-pilot and her fingers had taken control. The main characters of her new book were fighting with each other and this time the woman left the man in the sexual haze.

A shrill ring sounded through her office, and Beckett debated not getting it. The ringing stopped, but within 30 seconds started again. Beckett let out a few curses but grabbed the phone anyway.

"Hello."

"Making more scenes while on the job, honey?" Lanie's voice answered back.

"That fucking asshole." Her anger spiked, but she felt the heat slid down past her stomach at the memory of the kiss.

"Javier said Castle practically ran out of the break room and claimed he had to leave. And you followed shortly after pissed and fuming saying 'tell him he's an asshole when he gets back.' And by your reaction, I'm guessing this scene actually happened."

Beckett let out a tiny scream of frustration. "He kissed me! I walk into the break room after my lunch with Josh, and he's standing there freaking sexy as hell! But then he starts making all these claims about me and Josh dating and then the prick that he is he tells me there can't be any affection on the job!"

"How does he being a prick lead to kissing you?" Lanie asked.

"Well then I said about how he was the one who kissed me during an undercover case and before I know it I'm backed against the wall and he's making World War III of my lips!" The heat in her intensified just a little more.

"He had you backed against a wall?"

"He was holding me up and my legs were wrapped around his waist at one point!"

"Girl, I'm even flustered." Lanie joked with Kate but she wasn't in the mood.

"Then he stops and says 'we can't do this, it's unprofessional, you deserve better, blah blah blah.' Then he says that I'm the one who is making this situation hard! Like what the hell!" Kate was up and pacing in her office.

"I'm sure you made one thing pretty hard." Lanie laughed at her own joke, but it didn't even crack a smile for Beckett.

"Lanie. I have to go. We'll talk about this some other time." Beckett ended the conversation without a goodbye, just a click of the phone.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Castle didn't go far after he left the break room; he just hid out in the men's bathroom for an hour and half. He tried to go through every murder he'd ever solved, but his mind just kept slipping back to Beckett and the way she kissed. It was like heaven. He could live off kissing her for the rest of his life.

_Randy._ Castle thought for about the billionth time that day. Whenever Castle's mind slipped to the smoothness of Beckett's skin, or the way she said his name he would think of his brother and how he let him die and then he would remember how he wasn't good enough for Kate Beckett.

Sooner or later he became good and ready to face the precinct and a brown haired green eyed woman. Turning the corner, he saw Esposito and Ryan lift their heads and for some reason they looked scared.

"Hey boss. How were the errands?" Esposito said a little shaky, than looked at Ryan and nodded. Ryan shook his head vigorously. There was something that needed to be said.

"Alright, whatever you need to say that has you both quivering like cowards, just come out and say it." Castle deadpanned as he stared both of them down. Rarely ever was he this serious with his own partners.

"Well… after you left, Beckett came around looking for you. We told her that you went out to run some errands. And she… well… she said that you were an asshole and then left. She hasn't been back since." Esposito looked at his boss waiting to see his reaction.

Castle stared off into space for a little, than collected his thoughts and nodded at his team. No words were said about the situation with Beckett for he was an asshole and she had every right to call him one.

He sat down at his desk and sighed. Catching his eye was a post it note that was placed in the middle of his desk.

'If you don't want me, then don't kiss me'. There was no name, but Castle could tell it was Beckett's by her perfect writer's cursive. He felt his heart drop, she hated him. He was more than an asshole; it wasn't fair for any person to be played the way he was playing her. But he couldn't help himself, whenever he saw her all he wanted to do was ravish her alive. If only she knew that; that she made him hard at every glance. He wanted to give a relationship with Beckett a try, but he was dirt and she was everything good in the world.

Castle went home early; even Alexis couldn't guess what was wrong.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Beckett showed up the next day, she refused to take anytime off after the scene in the break room. Castle didn't know what to think; she pulled her chair away from his desk and spent most of her time talking with Ryan or Esposito, or anyone else who wasn't him.

There was a death of someone important, an actor or something. Beckett debated on not going with, but she really wanted to see who died.

The car ride was silent; Beckett opted to sit in the back with Ryan. The other two knew something was up between the writer and the detective; they just weren't sure what it was.

Reporters were everywhere at the scene, Castle sighed, reporters made it difficult for him to do his job. The normal routine happened, the speech from Lanie as she looked questioningly between the two, Castle stating orders that were going to happen, and then the ride back to the precinct to start the investigation. Through all of this, Beckett said nothing to Castle. She never even once looked at him.

The day became long and hard, Castle was trying to focus on the case but without Beckett at his side it felt like half of his brain wasn't working. The team was all staring at the board, throwing around idea's when Beckett piped in.

"How about a crazy fan?" She asked, and the guys all looked around at each other and shrugged. It was a good idea to look into. Beckett stood just a few minutes later and left to go get coffee.

The team was headed back to the crime scene together to look for a second look to see if anything was out of place. Even 6 hours later, reporters, newscasters, cops and the press all were still flocking around the scene.

Castle was called to ask questions from the press, and Beckett was asked to sign autographs for the ones who recognized her.

She signed anything that her fans could produce; some held newspapers, dollar bills, skin. Beckett didn't mind signing autographs for her fans; they were the reason she was so widely known.

She saw Esposito looking at her, and when he knew he caught her eye he gave her a nod signaling she had to hurry up.

"Alright guys last autograph!" Beckett called, and a groans erupted from the crowd. They departed slowly as the last fan stepped up. He was a man, maybe in his 30's, innocent looking but yet again a little mischievous. For some reason, Beckett's heart began to beat a little bit faster.

A few minutes later a car drove off, not a single person noticed the car and who was inside.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"Where's Beckett?" Ryan asked as they all stood around the car waiting to leave.

"I saw her right as Castle was wrapping up. She was signing autographs behind all of the people." Esposito piped in. "I'll call her," he said as he pulled out his phone. All he got was her voicemail.

"She probably got coffee or something, or maybe she is already at the precinct." Ryan guessed and they nodded in approval. The team shuffled into the car and sped off towards the 12th.

It had been two hours since they had returned and there had yet to be a sign from Beckett. Castle was refusing to be angry if she was on another date with Josh; but even if she was someone would know. They called Lanie, and even she had no idea where Beckett ran off too.

"Castle, you've got a call." Gates called from her office. He tried not to get to giddy at the fact it might be Beckett.

Castle picked up the phone and answered smoothly.

"Hello." The other side was quiet for a little while but then a muffling came over the phone.

"Hello Richard Castle," a deep voice said, definitely not Beckett's.

"Who is this?" Castle asked.

"Names are unimportant right now. But you can just think of me as the one who screwed your life up; just like you're screwing up mine right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rick could feel his heart beating; panic was running through his body.

"I have someone very special to you with me. You weren't protecting her like you should have been, Rick; it was almost too easy to grab her." The man on the other side of the phone chuckled at his superiority to Castle.

Rick's heart dropped, "Beckett," he whispered.

"Good job, detective! Yes, the lovely Kate Beckett!"

"Listen you piece of shit, who and where are you?" Castle demanded.

"Oh Rick, you're wasting your time with meaningless threats and useless questions." The man chuckled again.

"I'm going to find you and kill you personally." Rick growled, his hands clenching the phone.

"You have 24 hours before I kill her." The man said, "oh and Rick, check your email." The caller hung up.

An email popped up on Castle's computer screen; it was a video link. The phone slid from Castle's fingers and he clicked the link with a shaky hand.

Beckett's face popped up, she was tied to a chair, her head falling limp towards her chest, eyes closed. A man walked into the frame and circled the chair then looked at the camera. He was tall with dark eyes and hair that matched.

"Isn't she just beautiful, Rick?" He taunted as his hand slowly brushed Beckett's cheek. Castle felt his body shake with anger. "How does it feel knowing you could have prevented this?" The kidnapper added.

His hand moved to her hair and he stroked it slowly. "It'll be such a waste to see her go too. Won't it, Rick?"

The video ended. A count down appeared on Castle's screen. 23 hours; 59 minutes; 59… 58… 57… seconds.

Castle pushed away from his desk, ready to kill. "Esposito, Ryan, Beckett's been kidnapped!"


	7. Chapter 7 Slipping Time

**Hey guys, I really hope you like chapter 7 and 8 all one chapter, but it felt way to long. I'll be posting chapter 8 soon though! **

0~0~0~0~0~0

Castle checked the count down for about the 10th time in 2 minutes. They had already wasted an hour trying to track where the video link and call came from.

"Nothing," Esposito sighed, "this guy is top of his class. His phone service bounces off 6 different towers and the video stream is untraceable."

"So where do we go from here?" Castle demanded, his anger spiking at the loss of time.

"What did he say over the phone again?" Ryan asked.

"I've already told you this!" His voice rising.

"Detective Castle, I would like Miss Beckett back as much as you do. And to make sure that happens we have to work calmly together on this case!" Gates' voice was smooth but assertive. Castle pinched the bridge of his nose to help him calm down.

The detective sighed, "He said I was messing his plans up, so he planned on messing up mine."

"What do you think he means by that?" Gates asked.

"I'm not sure. I can't think of anything I've done differently to make him say that. I've never seen this guy before either. And it's not an ex-boyfriend of Beckett because he wouldn't be threatening to kill her, right?"

"Right" Ryan said, "He took her from the scene this afternoon correct? And there were video camera's there. So why don't we check some of them to see if anyone got a glimpse of him and his car."

"While you're doing that, I'll get others to see if they can match his face." Gates said as Ryan and Esposito headed off.

"And what can I do?" Castle asked.

"Stay calm and think, okay? Use that top of the line brain of yours to figure out the connection." And Gates was off without letting Castle object.

He sat in his chair and put his head in his hands. He felt like he couldn't breathe, Kate was missing and it was his fault. Castle was going to have two murders on his hands, two people he lov-… Rick's breath caught in his throat. Could he really like Kate more than normal? Castle hated using that four letter word; it was too final and absolute for him. But he felt different towards Kate.

"Dad!" A teenage girl's voice called. Castle picked his head up from his hands and saw his daughter and mother running towards him. "Dad what's going on? We got a call from Gates saying that you were going to need us!"

Castle gave them both a tired, weary smile. "Sweetie, Beckett's been kidnapped. She was taken this afternoon while we were at the scene. We have 23 hours to find her, and we have nothing to go on."

Alexis was shocked at the predicament her dad was in. "Oh my…" She turned and sat in a chair by herself.

"Are you okay kiddo?" Martha finally spoke, her eyes somber.

"Mother I can't…" Castle's face and heart fell once more. "I can't lose her."

Martha walked around the desk and rubbed her son's back. "I know, son. That's why you are going to do everything you can to find her. I know you won't stop until you have her back safe and sound."

Rick nodded at his mother's comforting words; he knew he would not sleep until he found the son of a bitch that took Kate Beckett.

"We've matched him!" Ryan called as they rushed towards Castle. Martha nodded at Rick than collected Alexis and headed out the door. "His name is Tyler Rowand, age 36, works at a bar, divorced." Ryan looked down at his paper "Doesn't live too far from here."

"Alright, Esposito get to work on the family of Rowand, get as much info as you can on him. Ryan, you come with me and we'll head to his apartment." Castle's voice was assertive and his partners followed wordlessly.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Castle walked slowly around the apartment of Tyler Rowand, nothing seemed out of place. Nothing was turned over, there were no papers strewn about, the kidnapper wasn't in a rush to get out at all, and he wasn't scared of the cops showing up.

"It doesn't seem like there is anything here." Ryan commented from in the kitchen.

"There has to be, something here has to show what links him to me. There has to be something…" Castle was getting frustrated they were wasting time just look at nothing.

"What about this?" Ryan called from the kitchen; Castle grabbed the piece of paper from his hand and studied it.

"It's a bill… for a storage center." Castle got out his phone and called back to the precinct, a few words were exchanged then he hung up. "The storage center was accessed monthly, and then two weeks ago he started going every day up until yesterday. Let's head there now."

The car ride was short; Ryan learned just how fast Castle could drive. Rick constantly was thinking of those red numbers ticking down to nothing. Every second felt like it was taking up 5 minutes.

As soon as the car stopped, Castle was out and running into the storage rooms.

"Storage number 312!" Ryan called from behind, Castle glancing at the numbers as he ran by.

"Here it is!" Castle turned and kicked the door in, no point in waiting for a manger to come by, right?

What the detective saw next surprised him in one second, and in the next he understood his part in the kidnapping.

"It's… pictures?" Ryan said from behind him. "It's pictures! Of Hailey Grey… our latest murder?"

"Damn! Beckett led us straight to him without even trying! A crazy fan, just like she said! And the murder investigation, that's how I connect!" Castle felt foolish, he should have listened and he didn't.

Ryan walked around the room slowly, "Can we classify this as an obsessed fan? It just doesn't make sense to as why he would kill her."

"It doesn't make sense right now, but I have the link!" Castle's victory soon turned to sorrow once more. "Fuck… now how does that help me save Beckett?" He closed his eyes; he could feel himself losing Beckett already.

"Hey, we're in this together, alright boss? We're going to get her a back safe and sound for you. And now we're just one step closer!" Ryan promised in the quiet of the storage.

Castle nodded; but no matter what comforting words were said, the clock was still ticking down.

0~0~0~0~0~0

No more than two minutes back into the precinct, Gates poked her head out of her office.

"Castle! He's on the phone!" She called.

Rick grabbed the phone, put it to his ear and his teeth were set. "Hello, Tyler."

"Oh darn, you've got my name." His deep voice chuckled.

"Hailey Grey was a pretty girl, had a bright future. Why was it that you killed her?" Castle refused to be jerked around by this guy.

There was a pause over the phone; Castle knew he caught the kidnapper off guard.

"Silly, silly, Richard, my personal life won't lead you to Kate."

"Let me talk to her now, asshole!"

"I don't think you're in a position to be making demands, Richard. You've got 19 hours left, plan accordingly." That deep chuckle, "oh and once again, check your email." The line ended.

Castle's head whipped toward the computer, the video link already on the screen.

0~0~0~0~0~0

A man came into her blurry vision; Beckett couldn't tell what was dreams and reality anymore. His foot stuck out and suddenly Kate's world was rushing past her. Pain shook through her body and rattled her teeth as her chair hit the cement floor. She writhed against her restraints, but it was useless. Her world lurched forward and she was sitting straight up again, a video camera in her face.

"Say hi to your boyfriend." The man said, and a red light clicked on.

She tried to call out to Castle but the tape covering her mouth made everything come out muffled.

"Richard, look at her, you're the reason she is going to die. This is entirely fault." The man walked behind Kate and began to run his fingers across her back. "You'll never find her, you'll never save her."

Beckett's heart was racing, she closed her eyes to block out the man who took her at the crime scene, who shoved her into a car and drove her to this factory.

"Cherish her now, Richard. You're time with her is running out." The red light clicked off. Beckett squirmed in her chair some more. "Perfect." The man whispered to himself, and then he walked off into the darkness where Beckett heard a door open then close.

Beckett craned her head from left to right to survey her surroundings. Nothing; except for a stream of light coming in from behind her. "Castle, please save me," she whispered against the tape.

0~0~0~0~0~0

"I want him dead!" Castle growled; his fist clench tightly into a ball. "I want him found! And I want him dead!" The timer appeared again. 18 hours. He moved to the murder board. "What do we even know about this guy?"

"He was divorced over a year ago to a woman named Megan Hughes. She'll be at the station first thing tomorrow morning. He worked at a rundown bar, making enough money to get by. There hasn't been any a huge deposit or withdrawal from his bank account recently. The only thing that sets him apart is the storage room." Esposito said staring at the murder board also.

"She was murdered by Tyler or not, but for some since we began to investigate the case we were screwing up some part of his plans. None of this is going to lead us to Beckett though!" Castle turned around, "what do we have on the cell phone signal and the video link."

"Still nothing, he's bouncing off to many towers. We can't pin point his exact location. We have his license plate number and model and make of his car and we have cops out searching for it." Ryan chirped in.

"Goddammit, where did he take her?" Castle growled.

"Richard Castle?" A man asked quietly. Rick whipped around at the use of his full name like the way the kidnapper had been calling him. A withered man stood before him, his hair a mess of gray, with saddened deep set eyes.

"Can I help you, sir?" Castle asked as he stared at the man, he looked familiar but he was unable to place him.

"Jim Beckett, Katie's father." He reached out his hand and Castle shook it. "Now tell me where my daughter is."

Castle collapsed in the nearest chair, head in his hands; his third time apologizing for the night.

"Sir, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have ever let her shadow me to crime scenes from the start. I should have known better, sir I am so sorry."

"Son, sorry isn't going to bring my daughter back to me. If you truly are sorry get up out of this chair and look harder, look closer." Jim Beckett pulled a chair up next to him and lowered his old body into it. "Detective Castle, after the first week of shadowing, Katie called raving about you. She wouldn't stop, and I thought it was just the initial idea of you. But it kept going and going, every week I was getting calls from her about how amazing you were. The talents you held."

Castle stared at the floor, "but sir, I can't-"

"From what I can tell," Mr. Beckett cut in, "you aren't a quitter. I've never heard my daughter talk about someone like she talks about you. I need you to bring her to me. I need you to save her. Do you think you can do that, detective Castle?"

Rick picked his head up and looked into Jim Beckett's eyes. He nodded wordlessly.

"Good, now get up and get to work." Beckett's dad stood, patted Castle on the back then walked out silently.

Castle stared at the board until he memorized every curve of every letter that was written on it. None of this information was helping them find Beckett. He was coming up with nothing, over and over again. Castle had no idea where to look.

"Boss, I think maybe you should go home. It's late." Ryan sat next to Castle and began to stare at the bored.

"I can't. We've already wasted too much time." Castle glanced down at his watch 12:18 it blinked. "We have 17 hours left. I need to save her." He said for the millionth time tonight.

"Esposito and I can look over everything, with fresh eyes. You've been trying for too long, go home and take a quick nap. And then, come back and look some more."

Castle shook his head, "I can't. I need to find her."

"Rick," Ryan said seriously, "go home. You need some sleep."

Castle stared blankly at him for a little, then nodded and grabbed his coat and belongings and headed to leave.

He woke up screaming in a cold sweat. His dream was so real; he could feel the silkiness of her skin slipping through his hands. Castle had found Beckett in the darkness of somewhere unknown, he called her name repeatedly but she couldn't hear him. He ran to her, and tried to shake her but she couldn't feel it. Then suddenly a she was gone, disappearing into wisps. He heard the deep chuckle of Tyler Rowand behind him and with a side smile he said "you were too late, Richard."

Rick looked at the clock 3:24. He had wasted 2 hours on useless sleep. He dressed in fresh clothes and headed back to the precinct for round two.


	8. Chapter 8 Factory Feelings

I didn't reread over this chapter because I am a very lazy women, so sorry for any typos or mistakes! I was annoyed with this chapter and I'm glad it's done so I can continue writing!

0~0~0~0~0~0

Ryan and Esposito sat jotting notes on the board, fresh cups of coffee's where the only things keeping them awake.

"Anything? Any calls?" Castle said rushing in, throwing his coat onto a chair somewhere.

"No calls. But we've got more background information on him." Esposito said without looking up. "It'll help us classify him and his actions a little better, and when he calls next time use it as an advantage."

Castle sat and stared at the board, beginning to memorize every line of every letter, once again.

Sometime past 4, Megan Hughes, a skinny, bad dye job, women walked into the precinct escorted by two cops.

"What did the son of a bitch do this time?" Her voice was unsurprised at the news of the hunt for her husband.

"He has captured my uh… partner. Please sit down Mrs. Hughes." Castle pulled her up a chair and she sat with a humph. "Do you have any idea where your ex-husband would have taken her?"

Mrs. Hughes looked at her nails, then up at Castle and shrugged. "Nope. Sorry."

"Ma'am I really need for you think hard on this one. He seems to have taken her to a factory or warehouse of some sort."

She scrunched her face up for a few seconds acting like she was thinking, and then shrugged. "No idea."

Castle patience was slipping with the ex-wife. He remembered the way Beckett's lips felt against his and suddenly he was calm and angered in the same instant. "Did you know about the storage room he was paying for?" He asked.

"A storage room?" Megan Hughes suddenly interested.

Two hours later, the fake blonde walked out of the precinct. Castle hadn't come one step closer to finding the location of where Kate was, but he now knew more about Tyler Rowand. It wasn't the accomplishment Castle wanted, but it was good enough. He checked his watch, 13 hours left.

"Damn it! How is all this time already been wasted?" Castle said angrily, he began to pull gently at his hair.

"Yo bro, we've still got time. More than half left. We're going to get her." Esposito said reassuringly.

"He's calling!" Ryan called from Gate's office!

Castle grabbed the phone, and walked to his computer, ready. "Hello again, Tyler."

"Oh hello, Richard. I'm so glad you could make time out of your busy day to talk to me. Well not busy enough, you've yet to find her." That damn laugh filled the phone.

"I was just talking with your ex-wife, Tyler. Sweet lady." Castle said with ease, he wasn't going to play Tyler's game.

"I'm glad she's gone."

"She had no idea about the storage room though, keeping secrets about your obsession, Tyler?"

"That bitch had…" Tyler trailed off his voice shaky, a few seconds of silence. "You're looking in the wrong directions, Richard; spending all your time with useless people and places. I'm quite disappointed. 13 hours left." The line went dead. A link appeared for the third time on Castle's computer, without hesitation he clicked it.

Beckett's face looked tired as she appeared on Castle's computer. Tyler walked around her slowly with the camera, and then Beckett's eyes went wide. A gun was under Kate's throat, her eyes huge.

"Ask all of the question you want, act like you know me Richard; but once that timer hits zero, nothing is going to stop the bullet from killing her." Tyler's deep voice rang through the factory.

Tears began to slip down Beckett's face, silently as she stared at the camera. "Oh Richard, look what you've done. Kate's crying now. Once again, this is your fault." Beckett shook her head vigorously at the idea of it being Rick's fault. The video ended. The countdown continued.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Family members, friends, co-workers of Tyler Rowand came into the precinct to answer questions, no one knew of the storage room. The local and state news came into video Castle asking for help if anyone had seen or heard from Tyler since 4 o'clock yesterday. Reporters came through asking questions about Beckett and her safety, and then they began about Castle and Beckett's relationship. They were quickly asked to leave by Gates.

"8 hours left. Damn, how could we waste 5 hours like that?" Castle collapsed in his chair. Rick Castle was not a man to cry but he could feel tears pricking at his eyes. The nightmare of losing Beckett through his fingers was coming closer and closer.

"Castle! Rowand is on the phone and he's demanding for you!" Gates called from her office, Castle was up and out of his chair.

He was handed the phone, "yes?" He said.

"I don't think you understand me, detective. You must think of me as foolish. I saw you on the news sending out searches for me. And you've spoken to almost everyone in my family and friends, because they won't stop calling." His voice was rough and angered.

"I'm only doing what you asked, Tyler. I'm trying to find Kate."

"Well, Richard, because of all the unnecessary people you have brought into this you now have four hours. And I hope you can remember what Miss Beckett looks like because you will not get to see her this time."

0~0~0~0~0~0

Something was wrong. The man hadn't been gentle with Kate, but he wasn't extremely rough. He had been calm every call to Castle and through every video. But this time he came storming through the doors, curses falling quickly from his mouth.

His eyes flashed to Kate, darkened from the anger. "Your boyfriend is the reason you're going to die. I told him of how he got involved, and he continues to get involved." Tyler checked the restraints on Beckett, his hands sharp and rough. "You only have 4 hours left."

0~0~0~0~0~0

His heart stopped, Castle was sure there was nothing beating within him. "I've let her down." He whispered. The last real conversation he had with her, he told her that they couldn't continue what they were doing. She called him an asshole. He could imagine her alone with Tyler Rowand in that dark factory. He would explain how it was all Castle's fault, and Beckett would be killed with that as her last thought. And Tyler would leave her in that terrible dark factory and no one would ever find her. He could just imagine her face, the stream of light coming from behind her.

Castle jumped up, knocking over his chair in the process. "The factory!" Esposito, Ryan and Gates heads all turned to Castle. "She's in the factory!"

"It's been a long day and you've had a lot on your mind, Castle, no worries." Ryan said quietly.

"No! The factory!" Castle rushed around the desk, "someone pull up the latest video!"

Esposito pulled up the last video and it began to play, Beckett's mouth taped and her eyes closed. Tyler began to talk again and Castle stared intently at the screen. "Stop! Stop it there!" Three of the detectives leaned in closer towards the screen. "Ryan, can you zoom in towards that window for me?" The image enlarged further and further.

"It looks like… a "Fi" and then a "Comp"." Gates said questioningly, not knowing where Castle was going with this.

"Yes! Fire Company! How many towers have we narrowed his signal down too?"

"Three towers." Ryan chimed in.

"Okay, pull up the towers; now find the closest fire house to those towers please." Esposito followed wordlessly at Castle's odd ideas.

"We left the crime scene at 4 o'clock, which was when Beckett was taken. The first video wasn't until 6 o'clock. There is a two hour difference so how far can he go within two hours? Take out the tower to the west of here. It's too far."

On the map, there was four points. Two were towers in complete opposite directions from the precinct and then another point close to the towers.

"There is a tower to the north of here, about 20 miles. The fire house is about 4 miles from there. And then the next tower is towards the south east about 45 miles and 2 miles is the fire house." Ryan explained to Castle while looking at the screen.

Rick studied the picture, millions of ideas running through his head. "No, no, it's the second tower. 45 miles is about an hour and 30 minutes, give or take some for traffic. Nobody at the scene heard Beckett scream for help, or even a commotion; and in the first video, Beckett was unconscious. I'm not sure if I'm right, but however he got her to his car with anyone noticing still was affecting her."

"Detective Castle, I know you'd like to believe this, but it's just not enough to go on." Gates said apologetically.

Castle looked at the screen once more, and was reaffirmed in his decision. "Just trust me, this is where she is. I know it."

Gates stared deep into Castle's eyes, and she saw the determination strong in his deep blues. She pulled out her phone and called a police team. "I really hope I didn't just send a team there for nothing."

"You didn't sir. I know it." Castle thanked her and ran to the door, Esposito and Ryan following close behind.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Sirens were loud as they raced down the street, Castle was normally not a man to speed and use his sirens but he felt as though this would be a very good reason. Ten minutes out from the fire house, Castle shut off his sirens and parked along the street. Behind him a team of cops jumped out from an all black car.

"Rowand could hear the sirens and kill Beckett before we get in so we've got to go by foot from here." Castle instructed to all the men standing on the street. While on the ride, Gates sent Castle an image to his phone of the factory. "There is an entrance from the back and front, you half will take the back, my team and the rest will take the front." His voice was loud and assertive as he directed everyone. "Now we've got a little under two hours left, but that doesn't mean we have a huge amount of time. Nobody goes into the factory before my team."

The men nodded, and Castle hoped nothing was going to go wrong, butterflies were in his throat. The team split, half went a street down to come up behind the factory and the other team pushed forward. The jogged noiselessly, there wasn't even the sound of breathing.

The factory loomed over Castle's team as they took their places around the door. Bullets were clicked into place, the signal from the other team was sent.

_This is it, time to kill that bastard _Castle thought. He gave a nod to his team, and then his foot collided with the door, opening it into the darkness. Groups of men flooded into the factory, guns out in front of them.

Rowand stood in the middle of the factory startled by the sudden commotion, Beckett beside him tied to the chair. "Rowand you're done! This game is over!" Castle called as he rushed in.

Tyler Rowand grabbed his gun and pointed it straight at Castle. "This is not how it's going to be Richard! You are going to lose!" Rowand turned his gun towards Beckett for the second time that night. "She is supposed to die!"

"If you even move, I will personally put six rounds into your chest." Castle growled through his teeth, his gun pointed straight at Rowand's heart.

"You shouldn't get to win," Rowand's voice was shaky, the confidence he once had was gone. "You weren't supposed to find us!"

Castle eyes shifted to behind Rowand as a cop was moving silently closer and closer. "Give it up Tyler. You're done." Castle stated calmly. The cop made a move for Rowand, grabbing him from behind and falling to the floor.

A shot was fired, the sound resonating through the quiet factory. There was a muffled yelp as Castle immediately rushed towards Beckett. His heart was pounding through his chest as he got to her. "Kate! Are you okay?"

Her answer came muffled and Castle slowly removed the tape from her mouth. "The chair," she panted out. Castle looked down at her chair and saw there was a chunk missing from one of the legs. The bullet had missed Kate's calf by half an inch maybe and shot through the chair.

Castle put his hands on her face and looked into her eyes. "Kate, I'm so sorry, I should have never let you get kidnapped. I never meant for you to get hurt. I'm so sorry, Kate, I'm so sorry." She looked so vulnerable; obviously, she'd basically just went through hell and back.

It was like Beckett forgot all that had happened in the last 20 hours, all of the fear that was instilled in her as her kidnapper talked about her death. All Beckett could think of was how happy she was to see Castle. The way he was looking at her… almost as if he lov- Her breath caught in her throat.

"Rick," she whispered softly, her face tilted towards him even though she was still chained to the chair. Castle face dropped too, her breath dancing across his lips. It was the softest kiss, just barely a brush of the lips, but it said everything.

"Boss, what should we do with Tyler?" Ryan said, something was always getting in the way of their moment.

Castle stood up, "take him to the car." He stated with authority, even though he felt shaky. Castle looked back at Kate and she smiled at him.

"Can you get me out of this chair, please?" She laughed, always making light of the situation.

Castle untied all of the restraints, and he wouldn't admit it if she asked, but he let his hands wander over her skin. Kate stood up and rubbed her wrists; they were bright red and would probably stay that way for a little while.

Rick was watching her intensely, watching her reactions to the situation. Kate felt his stare and picked her head up to look at him. Their eyes locked; the blue of his eyes darkened in desire and her breath hitched. He reached out and pulled her to his chest. His arms encased around her waist as he put his head on top of hers. Kate's arms slid around Rick, his smell of cologne over powering her.

It didn't matter what happened 24 hours ago, what happened during those 24 hours, or what was happening tomorrow or the next day. All that mattered was that they had each other in this moment, and they weren't going to let go.


	9. Chapter 9 November Nights

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving, and enjoys chapter 9!

0~0~0~0~0~0

The team walked out of the factory, all four of them together again. They shuttled into the car, ready for the two hour ride back to the 12th. Tyler Rowand was taken in a separate car, sporting some nice handcuffs, back to the precinct.

Espostio opted to drive, and Ryan grabbed shotgun, both of them knowing the hard day that the detective and writer had.

Castle slid in, then Beckett next to him in the back seat; their thighs touching each other slightly. Castle could feel the electricity jumping between the two, the feeling that was gone for 20 hours, was back. Quietly and slowly, Rick grabbed Beckett's hand that was closest to him and gave it a tiny squeeze, he had to touch her, had to know that she was alive.

Beckett whipped her head around to look at Castle at the sudden touch; he was staring right at her, his eyes filled with love. After a few seconds, Castle didn't let go, never would he let go.

Kate was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to sleep; she laid her head against the window and closed her eyes. Kate Beckett fell asleep with her hand in Rick's as he was slowly making patterns with his thumb.

A soft hand brushed across her cheek and a deep angel like voice called her name. Her eyes fluttered open, her vision blurred from sleep.

"Kate," Castle whispered once again, "wake up." The pad of his thumb rubbed her check softly; his eyes still that deep loving blue.

Beckett picked up her head, they were sitting in the precinct parking lot, the car empty except for her and Rick. She nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt and exited the car. Castle did the same and was around the side of the car in a second, his hand resting on the small of her back. The need to feel her was overwhelming to Castle.

The whole ride home, Rick watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her lips parted as she breathed through her mouth, her face was peaceful and relaxed even after what had happened to her. She was so beautiful while she slept. Her hand held his tightly throughout the ride home. What had Castle got himself into?

They reached the door together, and Beckett took a deep breath, awaiting her fate inside. "I'm going to be right here," Castle whispered as he rubbed his hand slowly on her back. Beckett nodded and pushed open the doors.

Reporters were cramped into the precinct, cameras and microphones at the ready. At the sight of the writer the reporters flocked to her with questions. Castle stepped in front of her and pushed their way through the crowd, protecting Beckett from the mess of people.

"Everyone out," Gates yelled from behind the crowd, "now!" The reporters were startled at the command in her voice and quickly moved out of the tiny area. Castle couldn't help but feel sorry for the reporters having to feel the wrath of Gates. Once all of the unnecessary people had cleared out, in the precinct stood the normal team.

"Glad to have you back Miss Beckett." Gates' voice held more emotion than normal.

"Thank you for helping to find me, sir." Beckett smiled through her drowsiness. Gates only gave a short nod in return.

The doors to the precinct slammed open and in through them ran Martha and Alexis.

"Oh Kate, your safe! We were all worried sick about you!" Martha clapped with joy. She threw her arms around Beckett and squeezed tightly. Beckett's face was shocked at the sudden embrace from Castle's mom. And once she let go, Alexis was hugging her within a second. The small girl held onto Kate tightly.

"Well, your son and his team saved me." Beckett said shyly at all the attention.

"Richard, you must have her over for dinner! I am making enough to feed an army!" Martha laughed excitedly.

"Mother, she was just… through a rough time. You can't expect her to want to have dinner with us." Castle shook his head at the forwardness of his mother. It wasn't fair to Beckett to be put on the spot.

Beckett looked scared as she glanced between the mother and son. "What can be better than a home cooked meal after a long day? Nothing. So it's settled you're coming over!" Martha confirmed without any form of agreement from Beckett.

Although nervous, Beckett was actually… happy to go to the Castle's house. Alexis and Martha treated her with such love and open arms, and Martha was right, she was starving. But in the back of her mind, she knew she also was excited to go spend more time with her favorite detective.

"Be over at 6! We are having steak!" Martha informed as her and Alexis scurried out of the precinct.

Castle's astonishment at his mother's forwardness was slow to wear off. "I'm sorry about my mother's attitude. If you do not want to go, I can tell her, I'm sure she will understand." Castle said shyly.

"No. No. She's great. And a home cooked meal sounds perfect." Beckett smiled, Castle's heart melted. _She's safe,_ Castle thought, and his own smile grew across his face. "What?" Beckett asked.

Castle shook his head, but the smile remained. "Nothing, I'm just glad you're safe."

Kate let out a nervous laugh, but she was also glad that she was safe.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Beckett entered the kitchen and saw the rows upon rows of plates of foods. "Jesus, Martha! How much food are you making?" She gaped at all the food sitting on the table.

"Oh darling, everyone knows to overcome a horrible day you eat your life away!" Martha sang from the kitchen as she fluttered around to check on the even more foods that were cooking.

"Mother, please" Castle mumbled from the corner, his hands running thoroughly through his hair. Kate eyes shifted to the deep voice and suddenly the room seemed to hot. Rick had swapped his normal dress shirt and sports jacket for a tight black sweater and dark jeans that hugged him in all the best places. He was so much, sexier when he was dressed casually.

"Now Richard, if I didn't know you any better I'd say your _embarrassed_." Martha teased as she set the last few plates on the table. The younger red head, without being called, came pounding down the steps and greeted Kate with a huge smile.

Kate still stood behind the chair, not quite sure what to do with herself. Castle noticed her hesitation and just barely touched her hand. "Please sit," he said quietly, motioning to the table.

The four ate, talked, and laughed and the time flew by them. Castle marveled at how easily Beckett fit into his crazy family. She kept up with all Martha's jokes and stories, but even had her own funny stories to share with them. He watched her out of the corner of his eye the whole night, her own eyes filled with joy as someone would talk even after the day's events.

The table was cleaned by every hand once dinner was finished. Martha clapped her hands "dessert will be ready in about an hour. I hope you saved room, Kate. I made monkey bread, Richard's favorite."

Kate looked at Castle and laughed and smiled at the elderly women, "only of course."

The feeling washed over Castle again. He had to be near her, alone. The animal inside of him was screaming to get out. He took ahold of her hand for the third time that day and leaned into Beckett. His lips just barely touching the outer part of her ear, Beckett's legs went weak.

"Let's take a walk," he whispered roughly. Words failed to appear in Kate's throat, so she just nodded instead.

The pair left Castle's apartment and headed out into the cold November night of New York. Their shoulders would bump every once in a while as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Your family is just amazing." Beckett was the first to speak, her voice was like silk.

"They're a tad bit strange, but I like them." Castle laughed quietly to himself as he slipped his hand into hers.

"And Alexis, that girl is going to be something. She is absolutely brilliant. I'm assuming she gets it from you…" Beckett trailed off, asking the question without actually asking it.

"Ah yes, I would really hope so. Meredith, my ex-wife, was more here and there. She is always coming in and out of Alexis's life whenever she felt the need to." Castle answered Beckett's hidden question.

"Never pegged you as a marrying kind of man, Castle, or even a divorcing type of guy." Beckett said, pushing her boundaries just a little farther then necessary.

"We had our differences, Meredith and I. We were so sure it was love in the very beginning, we rushed everything else. Then suddenly Alexis was born, and don't get me wrong, I love Alexis with every fiber in me, but I couldn't say the same for Meredith." Castle explained staring at the cars passing by, finally he glanced up, "and what about you?"

"Ah well, I've dated. I guess I just haven't the one I've wanted to settle down with."

The pair turned around after a while of walking and began to head back to the apartment.

"So what did you peg me as?" Castle asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"You said I wasn't the marrying or divorcing kind, what kind did you think I was?"

Beckett turned to face Castle and she saw the complete seriousness in his eyes. "I don't know, I just didn't think you were _those_ kinds of guys."

"That's a terrible answer! And it's a cop out! I would like a truthful answer." His eyes blazing with a deep blue but he wasn't as serious anymore.

Beckett acted as if she was thinking, and then found her way of messing with Castle. "Hhm, I pegged you more as a wild and cocky lover."

Castle chuckled softly, "wild and cocky lover, huh?" He said, almost to himself. He noticed an ally next to them; somewhere he could have Beckett alone and out of sight. He pulled her in from the sidewalk, away from all the people. "Tell me more about who you had me pegged as."

Beckett suddenly couldn't remember what the hell they were talking about; all she noticed was how close Castle was standing to her.

But being the writer that she is, she was quick to think on her feet. "Ah yes, a wild and cocky lover; the type of man who is very proud of his… uhm… attributes." Although words were coming out, Beckett's head was swimming.

Castle took another step closer, pushing Beckett back against the brick wall. "I'm interested, please proceed." His voice sounded like sex to Kate's ears.

Beckett took the challenge that he was silently throwing down. "The wild and cocky lover believes that he is advanced in the art of sex. That all ladies will drop to their knees to have a moment with this type of man. He believes that he knows every spot on women to make their body weak, when really he isn't _that_ good." Beckett continued on while Castle took another step forward, their chests now touching.

"And this is what you had me pegged as?" Castle asked as his head dropped to the point where Beckett's neck meant her collar bone and he began to suck gently.

"_Yes…" _Kate moaned, her eyes closing at the sensation. But as soon as he began, Castle stopped the sucking.

"Go on, I don't believe you were finished telling me about this certain type of lover." Castle teased her.

"Well…" Kate began, and so did the sucking. She gritted her teeth and tried to make it through without hesitation. "This type of lover also… likes to tease all of his conquests… because he thinks that they will… give into him… willingly." Beckett was pretty sure her voice cracked, and she could feel the wetness pooling in her panties. Castle moved up her neck, sucking gently as he went.

"Hhm, interesting… I wonder if-" But Beckett wouldn't have it, this game already continued long enough. She grabbed his face roughly and crashed her lips to his. Her hands grabbed his shirt and pulled him even closer to her heated body. It was a battle of lips, teeth and tongue between the two.

Beckett took control and spun the couple around, shoving Castle against the brick wall. He groaned in pleasure, growing painfully hard in the process.

Anger flooded through Beckett's veins as she nipped forcefully at his lips. "You're just going to stop it all again." She panted; puffs of smoke coming from her mouth.

Castle opened his mouth to protest, but Kate interrupted with another mind blowing anger induced kiss. Her cold hands slid under his sweater and roamed freely around his back and stomach, sliding ever so closely to the front of his jeans. _Who knew that although being a cop, Kate Beckett would be the one who killed him, _Castle thought as her hands scraped down his back, making him shiver.

"You're just going to say fucking 'no' again." Her words were laced with venom but her kisses made him strain against his jeans and his vision go blurry as her hands came too close to his hardness once more.

Castle finally found his balls and started the assault back. His own hands slid under her jacket and V-neck, slowly finding the edge of her bra.

"Castle," Beckett groaned into his lips. His hands slid under her jeans and he pulled her closer to him, Beckett moaned again.

Rick was taking control and he knew exactly how. His head fell once again to her collar bone, sucking and licking away. Beckett's hands stopped moving and she began to pant heavily.

"Oh god…" Her voice raspy; Beckett's head tilted so Castle could have better access.

His sucking grew harder and Kate grew wetter and hotter. Moans were falling from her lips uncontrollably.

"If you'd let me explain," Castle defended but continued with the control. "I'm willing to try this out, Kate."

Beckett's eyes stayed close as she couldn't quite process what Castle was saying with what he was doing to her.

"So good…" She panted out into the cold night.

Castle stopped, his eyes lifting to hers. "You're not even listening."

Beckett's eyes opened slowly as she was still high and in a daze. "What?"

"I'm willing to try this out. Try _us_ out." Castle was serious again, even though inside he was screaming for her body.

"Like… date?" Beckett asked slowly.

"I don't know, maybe not such a large label. But this _thing_ we have going on. I can't even be in the same room as you without wanting to take you so many different ways as possible," Castle said shyly.

Beckett grew hot at the pure desire of the detective's words. "Are you sure it's not just sex that you're after?"

"No." Castle said seriously, "you have this… effect on me. When I found out you were kidnapped, all I could think about was what I was going to do without you standing next to me, without you making my heart race all the time. I couldn't lose you, Beckett, I just couldn't."

Her own heart beat picked up and she studied his face carefully, searching his eyes for any sign of lies.

"I don't know what this is, but I'm willing to try it out. I'm not… great at saying what I mean, but do you think we can start slowly maybe?" Castle wasn't the New York City cop anymore; he was a 13 year old boy asking his crush to the dance. Kate was sure she saw him blush.

"But what you said, that day in the break-"

"I know what I said. Some parts are true, but I am still willing to try."

And Castle stood there, deep inside an ally trying to catch his breath from the heated make out he just took part in, and trying to slow his heart rate down from his sudden nervousness. The wind picked up, blowing both their hair and leaving them with a chill.

Beckett didn't answer right away, she only stared at him. Castle had never been so nervous in his life, what was this girl doing to him?

Suddenly, Kate smiled and answered only with a sweet kiss. Castle had gotten his answer.


	10. Chapter 10 Attempt 2

Guess who has writers block…? This girl! I'm sorry if you Caskett readers jumped at the sight of a new chapter only to see it was just me rambling…

So I've wanted to write a new chapter, write more to this story because I love it. But I just don't know where to go with it. I think I jumped into them dating too soon and now I've lost interest. My reasoning for this is because for me personally, when I read fanfic's after they begin dating I tend to stop because I love the fire and sexual tension that the couple has. And when they begin dating there isn't as much heat, causing me to lose interest.

HOWEVER! If any of you whippersnappers have a suggestion on how the story should continue, I'd be more than willing to hear it. If an idea just so happens to pop into your noggin, please feel free to write a review/message me! I would really like to continue the story for you folks; I'm just at a lost for what should come next. Also, if you have an idea about a story in general that you would like me to write, I'd be more than happy to try it out.

I'm so sorry for the wait, and for the false chapter!

Stay warm through the hiatus Caskett fans!

Love,

Dana.


	11. Chapter 11 Explosion in Chapter 1

Kate's fingers flew over the keyboard, like fast moving ghosts, barely grazing each key. A sweet caress here, a gentle touch there, the words spilling out before her.

In the scene before her, the main character, Jameson Rook a determined male detective in the city of New York, stands face to face with his counterpart, the oh so sexy and insanely childish, article writer, Nikki Heat. A quarrel happens between right and wrong, good and evil, sex and relationship. The sparks fly aggressively between the two…

Beckett's fingers stop. The writing high she was on has been lost, ripped from beneath her feet. The curser blinks condescendingly at her at the end of her last sentence.

She glanced at the clock, _aw hell; it's only 11:30. _Beckett grabbed her phone from the desk and dialed Castle's number.

"Castle." His response sharp, quick, and professional like always.

"Hey, did I wake you?"

"Hey Beckett, is everything okay? Did you have another nightmare?" His voice was now gentle, like silk, it could easily make Kate shiver.

"No, I'm fine detective, I just have a question."

Castle hesitated before responding, "yeah?"

"Well, I've been writing but I've seem to come to a screeching halt. I need your mighty fine detective inputs." Kate told herself that was her reason for calling, but maybe she just wanted to talk to Castle,

Rick chuckled, his voice rough but so sexy even over the phone. "Hhm, a bestselling mystery writer is looking to me for help? Funny. Why don't you read me the scene?"

"_Rook and Heat stood in the middle of the precinct, their eyes locked on each other. Raley, Ochao, and a few others wandering about the precinct have stopped to watch the sacred dance between the detective and the writer._

'_Why would you even think to do that?' Rook snaps, but Heat doesn't falter._

'_I caught our guy, didn't I? I don't understand your problem.' Heat takes another step forward, breaking into Rook's space._

'_But walking into a mob scene, unarmed, no backup, and no police training in situations like that whatsoever is the most absurd thing you've done so far!' Rook retorted._

_Heat took another step closer, jabbing a finger into his chest. 'I think you're angry that I was the hero in this case. And not the world's finest New York Cop.' She picked her head up too look into Rook's eyes, and their lips were mere inches away._

_Jameson's frustration began to bubble, as he clenched and unclenched his fists continuously. She was too close for comfort; he could feel her body ghosting over his." _ Beckett took a long slow breath.

The line was dead for a few moments which was killing Kate. "Well?" Her voice trailing off into worry.

"I love the way you write." Castle's response was simple, but it did flips to Beckett's heart. If you _love_ the way someone writes, that means you _love_ a piece of them, so Castle_ loved_ her in a way?

"You never told me you read my books." Beckett's smile grew ten times, in size "you're a fan, aren't you!" Excitement at the realization was bubbling through her veins.

"It never came up; I actually read your books before meeting you. They helped me a lot after my brother's murder." Castle's said softly, almost embarrassed.

"Glad I could be a hero to you." Beckett joked, "Now back on topic, if you were in this situation, what would you do?"

On the other line, Castle sat staring at the ceiling, thinking through every possibility. Finally deciding on the best answer, "I'd probably walk away."

"Really? No kiss, no sexual joke? Nothing! Why Detective Richard Castle, I'm disappointed."

"It would be wrong. Rook is on the job, and shouldn't be so… unprofessional." Castle said slowly.

Beckett snorted, "You're being hypocritical Rick. You did almost the exact opposite, if I remember correctly."

"Ah, yes, well I walked away afterwards, didn't I?"

"True… but after we had made out, while on the job. Twice." Beckett was pushing, and it was a bit annoying. But Castle pushed it aside, reliving those moments happily.

"You just have that effect on me." Castle laughed lightly.

"Oh really? Do I now, Rick?" Beckett's voice turned rough, and sexy. The bedroom voice, she called it, having used it a few times before on previous boyfriends.

Castle was instantly hard, was she really going to talk dirty to him? Her goddamn voice did wonders.

At a loss for words, Castle could only stutter like a hormonal teenager.

"Well, see you tomorrow! Sleep tight!" Beckett chuckled with victory, and hung the phone up. Castle sat at his desk, wondering what had just happened.

0~0~0~0~0~0

The pair hadn't openly talked about their relationship, and how they were going to tell everyone else. The team had yet to be uninformed, not that Castle or Beckett was hiding their relationship from anyone, it was just that once at work everything was professional and there was no room for flirting or kisses.

"I'm so bored!" Beckett complained while making a paper clip chain.

"We just got off a case, be thankful there isn't another one right away." Castle said without looking up, she had been complaining about her boredom all day long. Several times she hinted about skipping out early and "steaming up a few windows". Castle was tempted, the way she was dressed today was definitely not helping also. She wore a low v-neck that scooped lower every time she leaned over and amazing ass fitting jeans.

"Yeah, but anything is better than paperwork!" She whined while Castle only rolled his eyes at her childlike personality.

Beckett was quiet for a few minutes, concentrating hard on her paper clip chain. Then abruptly let out a loud sigh. "This is terrible! How can you do this?" She asked.

"Years of practice." Castle stated nonchalantly.

Beckett's phone pinged and her face lit up at the distraction. After finishing reading the text, she stood grabbed her jacket and turned to Castle.

"I've got to skip out early; we are leaking a chapter of Heat Wave to the press."

"Leaking? Why would you do that?" Castle asked confused at the way authors gained publicity.

"Well people will read the chapter if they believe it's 'leaked' material. And then once I've got them hooked, they will buy the book when it is released. Smart huh?" Beckett laughed at the idea.

"Actually… it is. It makes a lot of sense to do that." Castle admitted, "So does this mean I will get to read said chapter?"

Beckett gave him her 1000 watt smile and laughed "only if you're good." She said, and then lowered her voice so no one else would hear "call me tonight." And then she was off, her ass swaying back and forth as she walked out of the precinct, Castle couldn't help but notice.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Throwing his jacket over the couch, Castle turned on the news like he did every day after work. Kicking off his shoes, and untucking his shirt, Castle walked into the kitchen to make dinner for himself, the sound of the TV drifting through the apartment.

"The murder of Dave Brynn has been solved; the son-in-law is now being sentenced to life in jail. In other news, the new chapter of Heat Wave by New York Best Seller author Kate Beckett has been leaked on the internet." The news caster stated. Castle couldn't help but laugh, within 3 hours she was already making nightly news. Something she could easily do. "To find the chapter, check out our website."

Castle sat down on the couch, eating mac and cheese, with his feet kicked up. Martha and Alexis were out shopping and would be back sometime soon. Richard Castle loved his family, but sometimes he liked being alone to watch the news in peace. He made a mental note to read the chapter before he went to bed, but for now he would finish watching the news.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Beckett sat down in her usual seat next to Castle's desk. A smile spread wide across her face as she laid a cup of coffee down for Castle. However, the detective kept his head down, his veins were pulsing through his neck as he clenched and unclenched his teeth.

"Hello detective, what bitter weather we are having." Beckett said like any other morning, joy seeping through her voice. The beautiful man currently situated across from her was making her heart race. Obviously, she hadn't noticed his current disposition.

Castle's jaw locked and the veins in his neck suddenly becoming visible, his head though never picked up to look at Beckett.

"Hey, you alright?" Beckett asked reaching her hand across to touch his.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Castle's answer was brief and cold, the grip on his pen tightening before he let it slip from his grasp as he stood up forcefully from his desk and paced away.

"Castle!" Beckett called from her spot next to his desk before standing up and following behind him. "You should give me enough respect to tell me what your problem is."

Castle turned on his heel, his body pulsing with anger. "You want to know what my problem is? Your goddamn book. That's my problem."

Beckett's normally imaginative mind couldn't even figure the problem to this one out. "My book…?"

"Jameson Rook? The character 'supposedly' based off me is the most cold hearted, unemotional, stuck up person probably ever to be written. The first chapter he storms off about half a dozen times and he acts like he's better than everyone else. Now I know I'm not mister heartfelt, 'let's all just share our emotions' kind of guy but I know for a fact I'm a little better than that cold hearted scum bag that you've portrayed me as." Castle stated as the whole precinct had turned to watch the pair.

"Oh Castle." Beckett whispered, her heart plummeting only to crash by her feet.

"How do you think that makes me feel? Everyone who reads that book is going to think I'm the biggest asshole around. That all I care about is my job, about solving murders and catching killers. I've let you follow me around, go to crime scenes, be a part of interrogations, and in return you bash my reputation. You were kidnaped and I fucking _saved_ you and in return this is what I get?"

"Rick, please let me explain. That's the first chapter, that's Nikki's first impression of you which was my first impression of you. But please I'll let you read on and you'll see how different you are projected. Her viewpoint changes, Rook turns into this loving man, who cares for his team, his family and Nikki. Please Rick, let me just show you." Beckett's voice was soft, almost inaudible.

Castle's posture slumped and his head dropped. The anger was still running wild through his body, pushing him to say more, but Beckett's pleas were floating around in his heart.

The whole precinct was staring with wide eyes and halted breaths waiting for the next move.

"Rick, please believe me. I would never do that."

Castle realized that in that moment, angry or not, he didn't want to deal with this in the middle of the precinct, in the middle of work.

"We will talk later." He said quietly, his eyes finally meeting hers.

Beckett nodded, and then walked silently out of the precinct, all energy suddenly drained from her.

0~0~0~0~0~0

Once in the car, Kate had decided that she wasn't going back inside. Things weren't great, and having to follow him around for the rest of the day wasn't going to make the situation any better.

First, she sat in the car and cried, her heart shaken by the scene with Castle. And then, when she finally pulled herself together, she turned off her phone and went for a drive around New York City. At first she wasn't driving to anywhere special, but she found herself parking around the street from Central Park. Zipping up her coat, she walked through the park until the sun fell behind the trees and the street lamps began to flicker on. Kate then walked back to her car and drove home.

The elevator ride was silent, and it calmed Kate's nerves, because she knew once she got back into her apartment she would turn her phone on and have to deal with the day's events.

The metal doors slid open and she walked quickly to her loft, passing the man sitting by her door without even noticing.

"Kate…" Castle's voice echoing through the tiny hallway causing Beckett's hands to fumble with her key as it dropped quickly to the ground.

"I have something important to tell you, and I've done a lot of thinking." Castle said as he picked the key up from the ground and gently nudged Beckett away from the door. The key slid easily into the lock and her door swung open, Castle walking in leaving her standing in the hallway, frozen.

Finding strength somewhere in her, Beckett stumbled inside. Castle turned on the lights and closed the door behind her, he was more fitted to be in her home right now then she was.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, I should have given the book the chance without any judgments. You were right to portray me that way in the beginning because I was a jerk to you. I take your word on it when you say that my character does change throughout the book. I hope he does." Castle was puttering around her apartment but Beckett hadn't moved from her spot by the door.

The writers heart once again had relocated to somewhere by her feet, even further, probably closer to the apartment underneath hers.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, even though he just apologized and said it was okay that's all she could come up with.

Castle covered the distance between the two of them and captured her into a hug. Her arms on their own slid around his waist, suddenly finding some comfort in the situation. Rick pulled back, his hands trailing to push a strand of hair behind her ear. The detective's eyes were soft, his smell intoxicating surrounding Beckett as he leaned into to gently kiss her forehead.

"Kate, I think we need some time apart."


End file.
